Poll shows majority of Americans say Trump did not take COVID-19 risk seriously

by Justine Coleman - 10/04/20 9:49 AM ET

Almost three-quarters of American adults say President Trump did not take the risk of contracting COVID-19 seriously, according to a poll released Sunday.

The ABC News/Ipsos poll showed 72 percent of adults said the president did not take “the appropriate precautions when it came to his personal health.” The same percentage of people also said Trump did not take the “risk of contracting the virus seriously enough.”

Among Republicans, 43 percent said Trump didn’t take the appropriate precautions nor the risk of catching the virus seriously enough. For Democrats, 94 percent said he didn’t take needed precautions, and 95 percent said he wasn’t serious enough about possibly contracting COVID-19.

The poll was conducted in the two days after Trump’s announcement early Friday morning that he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

With conflicting information coming out of the White House about the president’s health, the showed Americans evenly split on whether Trump “will or will not be able to effectively handle his duties as president if there is a military or national security crisis” while he has COVID-19. A majority of Republicans at 90 percent believe Trump can manage his presidential duties while sick.

The percentage of Americans concerned that they or someone they know will contact COVID-19 increased to 81 percent, compared to 72 percent two weeks ago. The amount who said they are very concerned about it jumped from 29 percent to 37 percent in two weeks.

The increases are mostly attributed to Republicans and independents, who saw an 18-percentage-point and 13-percentage-point increase in total concern, respectively.

The ABC News/Ipsos poll surveyed 506 adults between Friday and Saturday, Oct. 2 and 3. The margin of error amounted to 5.0 percentage points.

The poll comes out after a hectic few days that saw Trump being sent to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday, hours after announcing he contracted the virus.

On Saturday, Trump’s doctors said he was “doing very well” and in “exceptionally good spirits.” But later, a “source familiar with the president’s health told reporters that Trump’s vitals over the “last 24 hours were very concerning” adding that “the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care.”