Week 9 of @NavigatorSurvey tracking poll: Trump approval for handling of pandemic at a new low, 40% approve/56% disapprove, with approval at 11% with Democrats, 32% with Independents, and 77% with Republicans. 
47% report hearing mostly negative things about Trump's handling vs. 17% who say mostly positive (and 32% mixed). The negative conversation on Trump has been around reopening, testing, masks, ignoring experts. (NOTE: interviews completed before his hydroxychloroquine declaration)
On reopening, 35% think their state is moving too quickly, 41% getting timing right, 17% not quickly enough. In states that respondents say are "more open than closed", a plurality say things moving too quickly. In states where things are "more closed" a plurality say about right
And with all that's going on around the country with reopening, it's still pretty clear that people are more concerned about social distancing ending too soon (58%) than it going on too long (32%). Also continued opposition to national reopening.
Who do you trust on how and when to reopen?
58% say Fauci, 27% say Trump.
Not really a close call there.
58% say Fauci, 27% say Trump.
Not really a close call there.
Trust in Fauci and the CDC are still incredibly strong despite the right's attempts to polarize attitudes on both. 70% trust Fauci to tell the truth on the pandemic. Fauci numbers eroding only a bit with GOP voters (from 65% to 60%) but still very strong there.
Coverage of reopening often presents the issue as a political vulnerability for Democrats, but here we see Dem Governors are largely seen as "getting it right" while huge numbers think Trump and GOP in Congress are not focused enough on preventing the spread of the virus.
For 2/3 of America, the key to restarting the economy is resolving the health crisis, not just "focusing on the economy."
We tested a bunch of different ways to talk about reopening. The most resonant statement links health and economy, including noting that it will "prolong the economic crisis" if we do not do so -- which is key. The conservative frames at bottom of chart below are less resonant.
The items voters see as most key to a safe reopening are: Full supplies of protective equipment, widespread testing, and following plans by experts.
Now for something a bit different than we do in our normal polls: We showed respondents some images in the news of people gathering in various places. The reaction to those images was crystal clear: 84% say the people in those images are acting irresponsibly, 16% say responsibly.
Latest release is up on the site here. We are on a weekly polling cadence now, but will still be sharing new findings throughout the week so check back tomorrow for more. navigatorresearch.org/navigating-cor…
