Majority of American Voters Say Trump Has Given Up Coronavirus Fight

Three in five American voters said President Donald Trump has given up fighting the coronavirus pandemic on behalf of the nation, according to a new poll from Navigator Research.

Among those who voted for Trump in 2016, a quarter agree that he is no longer fighting hard to stop the spread of COVID-19.

However, opinions are divided along political party lines. While more than 70 percent of Democrats feel strongly that the president does not care about containing the outbreak, almost half of Republicans disagree.

The national online survey of more than 1,000 registered voters found that 52 percent of Americans also feel strongly that Trump wants what is best for himself over what is best for the country.

This comes as Bob Woodward's book Rage revealed that the president purposely downplayed the virus to the public. More than a third of independents surveyed found this admission the most concerning aspect about the way Trump has handled the pandemic.

The poll, conducted between September 10 to 14, found that the majority of Americans know someone who has contracted COVID-19 during the course of the pandemic. Hispanic Americans and Black Americans are one and a half times more likely to know someone who has died from coronavirus.

Although the virus has already claimed nearly 200,000 lives in the U.S. and infected almost 7 million across the nation, half of Americans are concerned that "the worst is yet to come," a number that has increased over the past two weeks. Those who think the worst of the global health crisis is over has decreased by five points since the end of August.

Trump's rush to get a vaccine approved, even if unsafe and risky, to help his chances of reelection is the second most concerning issue for voters when it comes to his coronavirus response.

While the majority, 71 percent, of Americans are pro-vaccine, only half said they would choose to get one for COVID-19 if one becomes available. The most common reason cited for vaccine hesitancy is the safety of this particular vaccine.

More than 30 percent of those polled said they generally support vaccines but are unsure if the coronavirus vaccine will be safe. In comparison, only 7 percent said they generally oppose vaccines while 13 percent said they are uncertain about vaccines in general and about the coronavirus vaccine.

Americans are also concerned that pushing to develop a vaccine for the virus too quickly could also cause unintended health consequences, and few trust the president to handle the approval and distribution of a vaccine were one to become available.

Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci is most trusted by the public to tell the truth about a coronavirus vaccine. More than three quarters of Americans trust Fauci compared with the 41 percent who trust Trump. Participants also said they would trust the Food and Drug Administration and the companies developing the vaccine over the president.