The number of Americans who trust Biden to handle the pandemic better than Trump is increasing

Joe Biden.
(Image credit: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Back at the end of March, when the coronavirus was first surging in the United States, polls showed Americans felt similarly about both likely presidential candidates' abilities to handle the pandemic. Three months later, that's changed, a new survey released from The Washington Post and ABC News finds.

The poll, released Sunday, shows the presumptive Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, holding a 20-point advantage over President Trump when it comes to which candidate voters trust more to deal with the pandemic. In March, the two were all but even, with Trump actually holding onto a slight advantage. The president is still seen as the better bet to manage the economy effectively, although his margin is shrinking there, as well.

See more

Overall, Biden has a 15-point lead over Trump among registered voters, up from a 10-point lead in May and a 2-point advantage in March. The Post notes that Trump's decline in support is concentrated in states that are experiencing larger coronavirus outbreaks at the moment, including Florida, Texas, Arizona, and Georgia.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Post/ABC News poll was conducted between July 12-15. A random national sample of 1,006 adults were surveyed over the phone. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points. Read the full results here.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.