Reuters/Ipsos Core Political: Coronavirus Tracker (06/03/2020)

Washington, DC, June 3, 2020 –  The most recent edition of the Reuters/Ipsos Core Political survey finds that fewer people believe the country is headed in the right direction. The economy and jobs continue to be the main concern for most Americans, but racism and police brutality are also notable issues for many Americans this week. Two in five Americans approve of President Trump’s job performance. When considering the general election in November, former Vice President Joe Biden has a lead over President Trump among registered voters.

About one-quarter of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction (23%), an 8 point drop from mid-April of this year (31%). Considering the right track number held stable through the pandemic and economic downturn, this drop is notable.

• Republican registered voters’ perceptions about the direction of the country have shifted most significantly, with less than half reporting the country is going in the right direction (48%), down 12 points from April of this year (60%).

While the economy and jobs remain the number one issue for Americans this week (28%), this number is down 7 points from the last two weeks.

• The economy and jobs are still the main issue for Republican registered voters (36%), while just a quarter of Democratic registered voters say that the economy and jobs are the major issue (24%).
• As focus on the economy and jobs has shifted, more Americans are selecting “other” (17%) as the major issue, and specifically mentioning police brutality and racism.
• Healthcare is also a major concern for Americans (18%). A quarter of Democratic registered voters say healthcare is a major concern (26%) compared to just 10% of Republican registered voters.

President Trump’s overall approval rating stands at 39% among all Americans and 40% among registered voters.

• Approval ratings are driven by partisanship, with 83% of Republican registered voters approving of the president, compared to just 8% of Democratic registered voters.
• President Trump’s approval rating on his handling of coronavirus is stable, with 40% of Americans approving of how he is handling the issue.

Former Vice President Joe Biden has a 10 point lead over President Trump among registered voters if the election for president were held today.

• Republican registered voters report they would vote for Trump (84%) and Democratic registered voters would vote for Biden (83%).
• Independent registered voters are split, with 24% reporting they would vote for Trump and 28% reporting they would vote for Biden. Twenty-two percent of independent registered voters say they are unsure, and 17% would vote for another candidate.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between June 1-2, 2020 on behalf of Thomson Reuters. For this survey, a sample of 1,113 Americans age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The sample includes 964 registered voters, 479 Democratic registered voters, 350 Republican registered voters and 103 independent registered voters. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. The poll also has a credibility interval of ± 3.6 percentage points for all registered voters, ± 5.1 percentage points for Democratic registered voters, ± 6.0 percentage points for Republican registered voters, and ± 11.0 percentage points for independent registered voters. 

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

Kate Silverstein
Media Relations, US
Public Affairs
+1 718 755-8829
[email protected]

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