Trump continues to get low marks for his coronavirus response

President Donald Trump’s path to re-election continues to be dogged by low marks on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. 

A new survey from ABC News/Ipsos finds just 35 per cent of Americans approve of his handling of the pandemic, with another 65 per cent who disapprove. 

The poll found that two-thirds of the country believe the president acted too slowly in responding to the outbreak

And another two-thirds distrust what he’s said about the disease.  

On Sunday morning, Trump continued to cheerlead his response to the pandemic, tweeting that the coronavirus numbers were ‘falling very steadily and fast.’    

‘Deaths and hospitalizations way down, and even cases down despite far more Testing than any other country in the World, by far. India second!’ he wrote.  

Trump’s approval number on the pandemic has remained nearly the same since early July.   

Trump received a 33 per cent approval rating of his handling of the crisis on July 10, while his high water mark came back in March, hitting 55 per cent approval on March 20. 

Republicans continue to give Trump more credit for his COVID-19 response. 

Eighty per cent of Americans who identified themselves as Republicans say they approve of Trump’s response. 

Just 5 per cent of Democrats agree.  

And just 31 per cent of independent voters think he’s handling the crisis expertly.  

While Trump’s numbers are subpar, they suggest that the revelations found in Bob Woodward’s new book and reported by The Washington Post and CNN haven’t more heavily damaged the president on the virus. 

The poll was conducted on Friday and Saturday, after excerpts of Woodward’s book came out. 

The veteran Watergate journalist reported that Trump was telling him about the dangers of the coronavirus, while minimizing its impact in public comments.   

‘I wanted to always play it down,’ Trump said on March 19. ‘I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.’     

Just 34 per cent of Americans say they trust Trump on the virus, while another 64 per cent are wary of his rhetoric.  

Republicans continued to give the president higher marks, with 69 per cent saying Trump moved at the right pace when handling the virus, and 74 per cent saying they trusted Trump on the pandemic. 

However, 28 per cent of GOP voters believed he acted too slowly. 

And 26 per cent said they had reservations about the president’s rhetoric.   

Fifty per cent of white Americans without a college – considered to be part of Trump’s base – viewed his response as lagging, while 51 per cent were skeptical of what he said about the coronavirus.   

Just 10 per cent of Republicans said they trusted Democratic nominee Joe Biden on the virus.

Overall, 51 per cent of Americans polled said they believed Biden on the virus, versus 49 per cent who were more skeptical.    

The ABC News/Ipsos poll had a plus or minus 4.7 point margin of error.