60 percent in new poll say federal government’s response making pandemic worse

The majority of respondents in a poll released Tuesday said the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic is making the U.S.’s recovery from the outbreak worse. 

Sixty percent of respondents thought the federal government’s actions were making the pandemic recovery worse, compared to 39 percent who said the federal government was making the crisis better, according to a poll released by Axios-Ipsos. 

Respondents’ views on the federal government’s management of the pandemic showed a partisan divide.

Among Democrats, 19 percent thought the federal government was making the recovery better, while 80 percent said it was making it worse. For Republicans, 74 percent agreed that the federal government was improving the recovery, while 25 percent said it was making it worse.

A total of 32 percent of independents said the federal government’s actions were making the recovery better, compared with 68 percent who said they were making recovery worse. 

The poll also found a dip in trust in the federal government since the beginning of the pandemic — 32 percent of respondents surveyed said they expect the government to look out for their best interest. By contrast, in late March, more than half of participants said they trusted the federal government to look out for their best interest. 

But a majority of participants expressed optimism for the future. Fifty-seven of those surveyed said they’re somewhat or very hopeful the pandemic will be under control in the U.S. within the next six months. Forty-three percent were not too hopeful or not hopeful at all.  

The new survey comes just two months before the 2020 elections, where the government’s handling of the pandemic will play a large part.

The levels of trust in Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and President Trump have remained steady after the party conventions. Forty-five percent of people said they trusted Biden and 31 percent said they trusted the president. 

The Axios-Ipsos poll surveyed 1,100 U.S. adults from Aug. 28 to 31. The margin of error amounted to 3.3 percentage points.