President Trump's approval rating rises during the Coronavirus crisis.

President Donald Trump. White House photo. 

President Trump approval rating has risen during the Coronavirus crisis. The Hill. Gallup found a five point rise in approval since this time last month. He's at 49%, which is the highest he has gotten in Gallup's polling. The support remains steady among Republicans but he's gained 8 points from Independents (43%) and 6 points among Democrats (13%). The approval spike is probably related to his handling of the Coronavirus crisis as he has 60% approval for it. 94% of Republicans, 60% of independents and even 27% of Democrats approve of his handling of the crisis. Democratic leadership and the media have been very critical of Trump's handling of the crisis but Trump's daily briefing seems to be helping him make his case. 

My Comment:

This isn't surprising at all. During a crisis it's only natural to unite around leadership. For example, President Bush's approval rating spiked massively after 9/11. Of course the opposite case is possible as well, such as President Bush during Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. 

But the Coronavirus news is pretty grim right? Why isn't his approval falling? I think there are a few reasons for it. For one thing, I don't think most people blame President Trump for the virus. If they blame anyone at all, they blame China, but I think people realize that you can't blame a President just because a natural disaster happened. 

And I think President Trump gets a lot of credit for his actions. He may not have stopped the Coronavirus from infecting America but his actions in banning travel from China and then Europe did slow it down. He has also been proven right that having our manufacturing centered in China is a mistake and was proven right that China isn't our friend. Our response has been far from perfect but it could have been much worse. 

I also think that more people are tuning in to watch his briefings. People have little else to do other than follow Coronavirus news and I think that this is the first time many people are actually listening to him talk. Far from the demon the media has portrayed him for years, it's very clear that he's a funny and charismatic guy. 

But more than anything else I think this is due to President Trump's attitude. He is about the only person right now that is putting out anything positive. Compare his message to the media. They say that everyone is going to die, the potential cure will kill you and there is no hope at all. President Trump says most people will live, there might be a treatment and that we will weather the storm. Is it any wonder that people like what he is saying as opposed to what the media is saying? 

Will the approval spike last? I think it depends on what happens. If President Trump is right and the country will be able to reopen by Easter, I think it will. If that happens we will have survived the worst of it and people will give President Trump credit for his victory. However, if the virus spirals out of control I think it probably could hurt him in the end. But I do think that the 1st option is a lot more likely than the 2nd.