Trump's approval dips as US coronavirus death toll rises
NEW YORK: More Americans have grown critical of President Donald Trump over the past month as the death toll mounts from the coronavirus pandemic.
He now trails Democratic challenger Joe Biden by 8 percentage points among registered voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday.
The poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, showed that 41 per cent of US adults approved of Mr Trump's performance in office, which is down 4 points from a similar poll that ran in mid-April.
Fifty-six per cent disapprove of Mr Trump, up by 5 points in the same span.
It also found that 46 per cent of registered voters said they would back Mr Biden in the Nov 3 presidential election, while 38 per cent would vote for Mr Trump. That compared with a 2-point Biden lead in Reuters/Ipsos polling last week.
Americans also appear to be increasingly critical of the way Mr Trump has handled the health crisis.
According to the poll, those who disapprove of Mr Trump's performance at the helm of the country's pandemic response outnumber those who approve by 13 percentage points - the highest level of net disapproval since the poll started asking the question at the beginning of March.
Mr Trump initially downplayed the threat of the virus, which has killed more than 80,000 in the US, the highest death toll of any country.
RE-ELECTION CHANCES
He has sometimes contradicted disease specialists in his administration, promoted potential treatments that were not found effective and has accused Democratic governors of reopening their states slowly in order to hurt his re-election chances.
The Republican president has defended his administration's handling of the crisis and has accused China of failing to alert the world to the severity and scope of the outbreak, which has hammered the economy.
Mr Biden has routinely led Mr Trump among polls of registered voters this year. But his lead had been steadily eroding until this week. - REUTERS
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
