NEW YORK: Democrat Joe Biden opened his widest lead in a month in the U.S. presidential race after President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, and most Americans believe Trump could have avoided the infection if he had taken it. the virus more seriously, according to Reuters / Ipsos Survey released on Sunday.
The October 2-3 national opinion poll gave little indication of a large amount of support for the president beyond the core group of Trump supporters, some of whom have gathered outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where the president has been hospitalized.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed the severity of the pandemic as something that would go away on its own, berating Biden as recently as last week for wearing a protective mask, even as the coronavirus infected millions of people and forced businesses and schools to close.
Among adults expected to vote in the Nov.3 election, the poll found that 51% supported Biden, while 41% said they were voting for Trump. Another 4% were choosing a third-party candidate and another 4% said they were undecided.
Biden’s 10-point lead over Trump is 1 to 2 points higher than the leads Biden posted in recent weeks, although the increase is still within the survey’s precision limits of plus or minus 5 percentage points. .
With about a month to go to the election, Biden has maintained a head start to secure the national popular vote. But to win the presidency, a candidate must prevail in enough states to win the Electoral College, and state polls show Trump is almost as popular as Biden in battle states.
Trump, 74, was transferred to Walter Reed on Friday, hours after tweeting that he was diagnosed with COVID-19. The announcement triggered a dizzying splitscreen experience for many: When media alerts turned on cell phones and television chyrons about Trump feeling feverish and in need of oxygen, several other Republican leaders who had been very close to the president announced that they, too, had positive.
Most Americans remain deeply concerned about the virus, and the poll found that 65%, including 9 out of 10 registered Democrats and 5 out of 10 registered Republicans, agreed that “if President Trump had taken the more seriously, it probably wouldn’t have. ” infected.”
Only 34% said they thought Trump had been telling them the truth about the coronavirus, while 55% said no and 11% were unsure.
Of those surveyed, 57% of Americans said they disapproved of Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic overall, about 3 points higher than a poll that was conducted late last week.
Americans also appear to strongly support cutting the 2020 presidential race to ensure everyone’s safety.
Sixty-seven percent of Americans want to stop in-person campaign rallies and 59% believe that presidential debates should be postponed until Trump recovers from the coronavirus.
It is not clear at this time how Trump’s diagnosis will affect the next presidential debate, which is scheduled for October 15. The first vice presidential debate between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Mike Pence is scheduled for Thursday.
The Reuters / Ipsos survey was conducted online, in English, across the United States. It collected responses from 1,005 American adults, including 596 likely voters.
Only about 61% of voting-age Americans actually voted in the 2016 election.
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