A majority of Americans now believe that President Joe Biden cannot be trusted to provide them with accurate COVID-19 information, the results of a recent poll concluded.
According to the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index, only 45% of Americans trust Biden’s COVID information “a great deal or a fair amount,” which is down 13 percentage points from the very beginning of his presidency in January.
Biden’s numbers have declined among Republicans, independents, and even Democrats. From Jan. 22-25, a whopping 92% of Democrats trusted Biden on COVID. But as of the Sept. 24-27 poll, that figure is down to 81%.
Unsurprisingly, just 21% of Republicans trusted Biden’s messaging in January, though that figure is now down to 11%.
Trust in Biden has fallen the hardest among independents, however — from 59% to 42%, a 17-point drop.
The latest results of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index reveal other interesting data points. For example, a narrow majority of Americans — 51% — do not trust the federal government in general to provide citizens with accurate COVID information, which is up five percentage points from just two weeks ago.
More Americans are also coming around to the idea that regular social activities will not jeopardize their health, though the Sept. 24-27 poll noted that there has not yet been a concomitant change in behavior.
“Just over one in ten believe attending in-person gatherings with friends and family (13%) or dining in at a restaurant (12%) poses a large risk to their health, a decrease of five percentage points from two weeks ago,” the authors of the poll summary wrote.
And with Halloween around a month away, there’s been a significant drop in the percentage of Americans who believe trick-or-treating represents a grave danger to their health: 13% this year from 25% last year.
The notable drop in Biden’s COVID polling is consistent with drops in his overall approval rating since taking office. Last month, Alpha News reported on an NBC News poll that showed his approval rating at 49%, the first time in that poll he had slipped below 50.
Even in a reliably Democratic state like Minnesota, Biden has seen decreased approval. He dropped below 50% approval for the first time in a Star Tribune poll published last week.
“Minnesota’s men strongly reject Biden at 70%, while women continue their support at 64% with only 34% disapproval,” Alpha News reported. “College graduates give Biden a 56% job approval, but non-college graduates reject him more strongly, at 38% approval and 59% disapproving. Only one-third of political Independents in Minnesota approve of Biden.”
Evan Stambaugh
Evan Stambaugh is a freelance writer who had previously been a sports blogger. He has a BA in theology and an MA in philosophy.
