POLL: Majority Of Americans Don’t Trust Trump On Coronavirus
March 17, 2020
A new poll released today shows that a majority of Americans don’t trust what they’re hearing from Trump. And that’s no surprise given how from the beginning Trump has misled the public, contradicted experts, and downplayed the seriousness of this crisis.
60% of Americans don’t have much or any trust in what Trump says about coronavirus.
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NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll: “Just 37% of Americans now say they had a good amount or a great deal of trust in what they’re hearing from the president, while 60% say they had not very much or no trust at all in what he’s saying.”
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USA Today/Ipsos Poll: “A lack of trust in the president during this crisis is evident. Our latest polling with USA Today shows that most Americans don’t see Trump or Vice President Pence, who he charged with leading the task force on the coronavirus, as the most credible sources of information about the virus.”
Trump repeatedly misled Americans by downplaying the seriousness of the public health crisis.
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January 22: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”
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February 2: “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.”
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February 10: “Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.”
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February 25: “We’re very close to a vaccine.”
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February 26: “When you have 15, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”
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February 26: “This is a flu. This is like a flu.”
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March 2: “The companies are the best in the world and they’re working on it and they think they’re pretty close to having it… But they have other things that can help – I guess I’d use the word ‘cure’ it, fix it.”
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March 4: “I think the 3.4 percent is really a false number. Now, this is just my hunch, and — but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this.”
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March 6: “Anybody that wants a test can get a test.”
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March 11: “I met with the leaders of health insurance industry, who have agreed to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatments.”
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March 11: “This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history.”
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March 13: “Ultimately, a vaccine, which takes a little bit longer because of the test periods and a couple of other reasons, you’re going to have it very quickly because of the great knowledge.”
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March 15: “It’s something that we have tremendous control over.”