60% of Democrats Blame Trump More Than China for Coronavirus

Most Democrats blame President Trump, not China, for the coronavirus crisis the country is now experiencing. Other voters disagree.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 42% of all Likely U.S. Voters agree with U.S. Senator Chris Murphy’s recent statement: “The reason that we’re in the crisis that we are today is not because of anything that China did, is not because of anything the [World Health Organization] did. It’s because of what [President Trump] did.” Forty-seven percent (47%) disagree with the Connecticut Democrat. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Once again, though, there’s a clear partisan difference of opinion. Sixty percent (60%) of Democrats agree with Murphy that Trump is more to blame than China and the WHO. Seventy-one percent (71%) of Republicans and unaffiliated voters by a 46% to 39% margin disagree.

The coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan, China, and most authorities agree that it was able to spread globally because the Chinese government delayed for several weeks notifying the international community. The WHO was slow in responding to the virus. The Chinese government has tried to blame the United States for the virus behind the scenes in overseas propaganda. 

Thirty-two percent (32%) of all voters think the U.S. government’s response to the coronavirus has been better than government actions in most other countries. Forty-two percent (42%) say it’s worse than others, while 24% view it as about the same.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of Democrats believe the U.S. government’s response has been worse than others. Fifty-six percent (56%) of GOP voters think the U.S. response has been better. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 24% say better, 42% worse, and 32% about the same.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted April 16 and 19, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

With partisan politics influencing most everything in the Trump era, it’s perhaps no surprise that most Democrats are even unwilling to take a potentially life-saving drug to combat coronavirus because the president endorsed it.

Women and those under 40 are more likely to agree that Trump, not China and the WHO, is more to blame for the coronavirus crisis. Older voters are more critical of the U.S. response, however.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of blacks and 54% of other minority voters blame Trump more, compared to just 35% of whites. Blacks are the most likely to say that the government response here has been worse than actions in most other countries.

Among voters who Strongly Disapprove of Trump’s job performance, 70% blame him more than China and the WHO for the coronavirus. Eighty-four percent (84%) of those who Strongly Approve of the job he is doing disagree.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters who blame Trump more rate the U.S. government’s response to the coronavirus as worse than in other countries. Among those who disagree with Murphy’s statement, 54% say America is doing better than most others.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of Democrats think it’s racist when Trump refers to the coronavirus as “a Chinese virus.” Sixty percent (60%) of GOP voters disagree. Unaffiliateds are almost evenly divided.

But 42% of all voters said last month that China should help pay at least some of the financial costs that have resulted from the global transmission of the coronavirus.

Voters question how long the United States can remain locked down because of the virus and share Trump’s worry that the government may go too far in its efforts to defeat the disease.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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