According to the poll, a majority of Americans say Trump could have avoided coronavirus.
NEW YORK United States (Reuters) – Democrat Joe Biden gained his most significant lead in a month in the presidential race after Donald Trump tested positive for covid-19, and most Americans believe the Republican could have avoided infection if he had taken the virus more seriously, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The Oct. 2-3 national opinion poll, released Sunday, October 4, gave little indication of strong support for the president beyond Trump supporters’ core group. Some of them have gathered outside the Walter Reed Military Medical Center, where the president is hospitalized.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed the severity of the pandemic and said the disease would go away on its own. He even criticized Biden last week for wearing a mask even though the coronavirus has killed nearly 210,000 people in the United States and forced businesses and schools to close.
Among those expected to vote on November 3, the poll found 51% support Biden, while 41% said they support Trump.
Four percent chose a third candidate, and the other four percent said they were undecided.
Biden’s ten percentage point lead over Trump is 1-2 points higher than it has been in recent weeks, although the rise is still within the poll’s margin of error of +/- 5 percentage points.
With a month to go before the election, Biden has maintained his lead to secure the popular vote. But to win the presidency, a candidate must prevail in enough states to prevail in the Electoral College, and some polls show that Trump is almost as popular as Biden in major states.
In a video from his hospital room, Trump, 74, said Saturday that he is feeling “much better” and hopes to “come back soon,” after a day of conflicting messages from the White House about his condition after being diagnosed with covid-19.
TRUMP BLAMED
Most Americans remain deeply concerned about the virus, and the survey found that 65 percent, including 9 out of 10 registered Democrats and 5 out of 10 registered Republicans, agree that “if Trump had taken the coronavirus more seriously, he probably would not have become infected.
Only 34% said they think Trump has been telling the truth about the coronavirus, while 55% said no, and 11% said they were not sure.
57% of respondents disapproved of Trump’s response to the pandemic, about three percentage points more than a poll conducted late last week.
Meanwhile, Americans also seem to be largely supportive of reducing the presidential race to ensure safety.
Sixty-seven percent want to stop face-to-face campaign rallies, and 59 percent believe that debates should be postponed until Trump recovers from the coronavirus.
It is still unclear how Trump’s diagnosis will affect the next presidential debate, scheduled for October 15.
The first vice presidential debate between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Mike Pence is scheduled for Thursday.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online, in English, across the United States. It collected responses from 1,005 American adults, including 596 likely voters.
