ABC News and The Washington Post responded to strong approval numbers for Donald Trump’s handling of the Corona crisis by warning that it will “reinforce” his own beliefs. Both outlets, in a joint poll, suggested the result could be nothing more than a patriotic rallying from the country.
On Friday’s Good Morning America, Terry Moran fretted, “These findings in our poll, and other polls, the rally on Wall Street, all this is going to reinforce the President in the belief he's doing the right thing, going in the right way pushing to reopen the country what he calls a tiered approach.”
Still, this is more coverage than the March 20 ABC News/Washington Post poll. GMA gave that just a scant ten seconds. On Friday, co-host Amy Robach at least directly touted the numbers: “Unemployment claims are soaring across this country, but our new ABC News poll, with The Washington Post, has President Trump with his highest approval rating, 48 percent since taking office. And he has a 51 percent approval rating of the handling of the coronavirus crisis.”
Moran marveled, “That approval number for the President, that's the highest he's ever reached in our ABC News poll, and it is the first time that more Americans are telling us they approve of the job he's doing than disapprove.” He offered up an explanation, saying, “Americans tend to rally around the President and support him. Even in these bitterly partisan times, our poll shows there is at least some of that national solidarity.”
The Post buried its accounting of the poll on page A-6 of the print edition. The poll finds Trump’s approval on Corona at 51 percent against a 45 percent disapproval. That number has jumped up five points since the last survey.
However, the Post didn’t make that the headline. Instead, the online headline avoided this angle: “Poll finds universal lifestyle changes, rising stress and growing fears about catching coronavirus.” Writers Dan Balz and Emily Guskin grudgingly acknowledged:
On the political front, President Trump narrowly wins approval for his handling of the outbreak, and his overall approval rating has grown five percentage points since February, to 48 percent, even as most Americans say he was too slow to take action in the early days of the virus’s spread. The rise in Trump’s approval rating, however, is far smaller than some other presidents have experienced in times of national crisis.
Narrowly? It's 51-45. The journalists eventually (in paragraph 16) got around to noting that the President is now at his highest approval rating (48 percent) since ABC News and the Post have been surveying:
Today, weeks into the crisis, Trump receives more positive ratings for the way he is handling the pandemic and his overall duties as the nation’s chief executive.
His job approval rating stands at 48 percent positive and 46 percent negative among all adults, up from 43 percent positive and 53 percent negative in February. That is the highest approval rating of his presidency in Post-ABC surveys and the first time his overall rating is net positive.
Earlier this week, CBS This Morning found similar results and gave them just 10 seconds.
Good Morning America
3/27/2020
7:14 AM ET
AMY ROBACH: Well, George, unemployment claims are soaring across this country, but our new ABC News poll, with The Washington Post, has President Trump with his highest approval rating, 48 percent since taking office. And he has a 51 percent approval rating of the handling of the coronavirus crisis. Senior national correspondent Terry Moran has more from Washington now. Good morning, Terry.
TERRY MORAN: Good morning, Amy. That approval number for the President, that's the highest he's ever reached in our ABC News poll, and it is the first time that more Americans are telling us they approve of the job he's doing than disapprove. In a crisis, Americans tend to rally around the President and support him. Even in these bitterly partisan times, our poll shows there is at least some of that national solidarity. We do find support for the President drops in those harder hit areas, Seattle and New York. Among those who are more concerned themselves about getting the virus and among those who know someone who has caught this virus. That said, these findings in our poll, and other polls, the rally on Wall Street, all this is going to reinforce the President in the belief he's doing the right thing, that he is going in the right way pushing to reopen the country what he calls a tiered approach, county by county, section by section, with surveillance testing sooner rather than later.
ROBACH: And Terry, we heard the President say he had a, quote, “terrific meeting” with state governors about coordinating that response to the outbreak and there was no contention. But there are real conflicts right now between hard-hit states and the President.
MORAN: You just heard some of that from Mayor de Blasio, and you'll hear it from Governor Cuomo and others. There is tension between governors in hard hit states and the federal government and the President personally. Look, confrontation is part of President Trump's management style. He likes to drive people, especially people who are vocal. Those governors who are out there calling for the federal government to do more, those are people he's pushing back on, those are the people he’s pushing back on. The bottom line for governors who need more, ask for it quietly and maybe praise President Trump while you're doing it, Amy.
