Poll: More Approve of Donald Trump’s Handling of the Coronavirus than Joe Biden’s

More voters approve of former President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus than President Joe Biden’s handling of the pandemic over two years later,a Harvard Harris poll found.

The survey asked voters to rank the approval of Biden’s handling of key issues, including “reacting to coronavirus.” As of February 2022, just 44 percent expressed approval — 26 percent down from the 70 percent who approved of his handling of that issue in May 2021. Biden garnered the same 44 percent approval on that issue in January 2022 as well, marking his lowest rating on the coronavirus throughout his presidency, according to the survey. 

In comparison, Trump left office with 47 percent approving of his handling of the virus — three percent higher than Biden’s current approval rating. That is significant, as Biden largely pitched tackling the Chinese coronavirus as one of his key campaign issues.  

“You hear nothing else I say tonight, hear this: Anyone who’s responsible for not taking control, in fact… saying I take no responsibility initially, anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the United States of America,” Biden said during one of the presidential debates in October 2020, when the U.S. death toll stood around 220,000.

That figure now stands around 947,000, yet Biden has shown no signs of stepping down. Instead, he has gone back on his word on key aspects of handling the pandemic, including attempts to force individuals to get vaccinated.

However, the Supreme Court struck down the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule, which would have affected millions of workers. Masking at the federal level, however, still remains, despite Biden’s original pitch for “just” 100 days of masking.

The Harvard Harris Poll was taken February 23-24, 2022, among 2,026 registered voters and comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lowers the bar for masking indoors, days ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address, despite the fact that the science of coronavirus transmission has not changed.