Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Reaches Highest Point Since 2017 As Administration Battles Coronavirus New Poll Shows
President Donald Trump’s approval rating reached its highest point in three years Tuesday as his administration continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll.
The CNN poll conducted by SSRS, an independent research company, found that 45 percent of respondents approve of the way Trump is handling his job, while 51 percent disapprove and 4 percent had no opinion. The poll surveyed 1,112 people and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.
Trump’s approval rating has hit 45 percent only one other time during his presidency, and that was less than two months after he took office in 2017. That poll showed the president had a 45 percent approval rating, with 52 percent disapproving, on March 5, 2017.
The new CNN poll showed that 42 percent of people believe the federal government is doing a good job at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States. That rating is down from a CNN poll result in early March, in which 49 percent said the federal government was doing a good job in combating the pandemic while 43 percent said it was doing a poor job.
The U.S. now has over 1.35 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 81,650 deaths reported, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. So far, 232,733 people have recovered from the virus’s disease, COVID-19.
The Nbc Political Unit’s House Primaries To Watch
NBC News Political Unit
WASHINGTON While the pandemic has upended the primary calendar this election season, there are still a whole lot of interesting primary races that will either set the stage for high-profile general election battles or effectively decide who will join Congress.
Here’s a breakdown of the House primaries that the NBC Political Unit is watching.
- IA-01: Republicans are looking for a candidate to knock off freshman Democratic Rep. Abby Finkenauer, with current state Rep. Ashley Hinson backed by the state’s Republican governor and lieutenant governor.
- IA-04: Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King is fighting for his political life, with his opponents hoping Randy Feenstra can end King’s political career.
- NM-02: The fight between Republicans Yvette Herrell and Claire Chase has gotten nasty and personal. The winner faces Democratic Rep. Xochitl Torres Small.
- VA-5 GOP convention: This Republican district convention will decide an ugly contest between challenger Bob Good and incumbent Rep. Denver Riggleman, who took heat with conservatives for officiating a same-sex marriage.
- OK-05: Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn shocked political observers by flipping this seat in 2018. The GOP primary decides who will face her in November.
- NJ-02: After Rep. Jeff Van Drew switched parties to join the GOP, Democrats are eager for revenge. They just have to pick a candidate first.
Here’s What The Democratic Presidential Primary Schedule Looks Like In The Age Of Coronavirus
Carrie Dann
WASHINGTON States continue to postpone Democratic presidential caucuses and primaries as the threat of coronavirus looms large and White House social distancing guidelines remain in place for another month.
All presidential contests before March 17 were held as scheduled but the list of states that have altered voting plans due to the is extensive.
Here’s the modified schedule so far listed by original contest date.
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Trump And Pence Opt For Battleground States As Backdrop To Coronavirus Response
Monica Alba and Carol E. Lee
WASHINGTON In the last six weeks, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have prioritized key 2020 battleground states to highlight their administrations coronavirus pandemic response, sidestepping some hot spots that have been hardest hit by the health crisis.
The president has traveled to Pennsylvania and Arizona this month and will head to Michigan later this week. Pence has toured more extensively, visiting Wisconsin, Virginia, Minnesota and Iowa since the outbreak exploded and hes slated to speak in Florida on Wednesday.
As the traditional campaign trail has effectively come to a halt, White House advisers see a two-fold opportunity in picking swing states as the backdrop for official events: touting their own efforts to re-open the country while reaching critical voters who could sway the election, all while earning important regional media coverage that the Trump campaign amplifies at every opportunity.
Trump and Pence havent yet been to any of the states with the most cases and deaths of coronavirus, partially because it may not be safe to do so: New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts and California. None of them are considered battlegrounds, though the president has hosted the Democratic governors of New York and New Jersey in the Oval Office. Pence has also traveled to his home state of Indiana, which is not considered to be in play for 2020.
United States Presidential Approval Rating
In the United States, presidential job approval ratings were first conducted by George Gallup to gauge public support for the president of the United States during their term. An approval rating is a percentage determined by polling which indicates the percentage of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program. Typically, an approval rating is given to a politician based on responses to a poll in which a sample of people are asked whether they approve or disapprove of that particular political figure. A question might ask: “Do you approve or disapprove of the way that the current president is handling their job as president?”
Like most surveys that measure opinions, individual poll results may be inaccurate. Many unscientific approval rating systems exist that show inaccurate statistics. Examples that self select, such as online questions are of this type however, the aggregate approval rating is generally accepted by statisticians as a statistically valid indicator of the comparative changes in the popular United States mood regarding a president.
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Debate Over Reopening Gets Heated In A Key 2020 County
Carrie Dann
WASHINGTON The debate over how quickly to reopen businesses without accelerating the spread of coronavirus is happening in every part of America and its gotten heated in one of the key places where the 2020 election could be decided: Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
The county, which sits northwest of Pittsburgh and borders Ohio, is one of five that NBCs “Meet the Press” is tracking as part of its County-to-County project. There, President Trumps reelection campaign will aim to turn out the high share of blue-collar voters who charged to the polls for him in 2016, lifting him to a 19 point victory in a county Mitt Romney only won by 8 points in 2016.
According to new guidance from the states Democratic governor, Tom Wolf, Beaver County will remain in a locked-down red phase next week despite neighboring counties being moved to a less stringent yellow classification. In the red phase, only life-sustaining businesses can remain open and stay-at-home orders remain in place.
But local officials are bristling at the decision, with the countys district attorney saying Friday that his office will not prosecute businesses that reopen despite the governors order. And County Commissioner Daniel Camp called the governor’s move unwarranted and irrational.
Dante Chinni contributed.
Biden Appeals To Progressive Groups To Unite Party
WASHINGTON Joe Biden’s campaign is making inroads with key progressive groups in an effort to keep the former vice president’s pledge and unite the factions of the Democratic Party. The campaign hopes that finding common ground on policy with these groups will strengthen their ability to defeat President Trump in November.
Biden earned notable endorsements from grassroots to legacy organizations in recent weeks, like Let America Vote and End Citizens United. Some of the groups backed Biden after the campaign engaged them to discuss policy interests and how to best utilize their vast networks to efficiently turnout voters in the general election.
On Wednesday, the Human Rights Campaign endorsed Biden on the eighth anniversary of Biden pre-empting President Barack Obama and announcing his support for legalized gay marriage on Meet the Press. The group cited his career-long commitment to fight for LGBTQ rights, and his promise to pass the Equality Act in the first 100 days of his presidency.
Joe Biden has said publicly and to us directly that the Equality Act will be a priority in his administration, HRC president Alphonso David said on MSNBC on Wednesday. He added that Biden also promised to address the high violence rates faced by the transgender community.
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Dnc Reserves $22 Million In Youtube Ads For General Election
Ben Kamisar
WASHINGTON The Democratic National Committee announced on Monday that it will reserve $22 million in YouTube ads ahead of the general election as the party looks to fight President Trump’s fundraising and online campaign behemoth.
The ads will start in September in Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and then in October in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.
While the party hasn’t announced the content of the ads yet, it said in a release announcing the effort that the strategy is aimed at boosting turnout for the party’s presidential nominee as well as the entire Democratic ticket.
Campaigns and political groups typically get better rates for ads when they make earlier investments.
Now more than ever, its critical that we reach voters where they are online and this digital program will help us mobilize the voters we need to make Donald Trump a one-term president, DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a statement.
By making these kinds of historic, early investments in our battlegrounds and campaign infrastructure, the DNC is putting our eventual nominee and Democrats running at every level of the ballot in the strongest possible position to secure victory in November.
“The pandemic has only reinforced the importance of communicating with voters across a wide range of online channels and utilizing a variety of innovative, data-driven digital tactics,” Stevenson said.
John Lewis Endorses Biden For President
Mike Memoli and Marianna Sotomayor
WASHINGTON Rep. John Lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement, endorsed Joe Biden for president Tuesday, saying the former vice president will inspire another generation “to speak up, to speak out, to be brave, to be bold.”
“It is my belief that we need Joe Biden now more than ever before,” Lewis, D-Ga., told reporters. “He will be a great president. He will lead our country to a better place. He will inspire another generation to stand up, to speak up and to speak out. Be brave, to be bold. That’s why I’m committed to supporting him.”
In an interview with NBC News’ Craig Melvin airing later this morning on “Today,” Biden calls Lewis “one of my heroes,” praising his courage and sacrifice in the fight for civil rights, especially as part of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.
Biden said: “The fact that he would endorse me is just it makes me even more certain that I should be doing what I’m doing. I’m a great, great admirer of John Lewis. He’s a man of enormous integrity.”
Georgia has delayed its primary until May 19 because of the coronavirus outbreak. Although he was diagnosed December with Stage IV pancreatic cancer, Lewis said he was committed to traveling across the country to rally support for Biden.
“We need his voice. We need his leadership, now more than ever before. We need someone who will get our country on the right side of history and help save our planet,” he said
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Gop Super Pac Pledges $100000 To Support Rep Steve King’s Primary Challenger
Ben Kamisar
WASHINGTON The GOP Super PAC, Defending Main Street, announced that it will spend $100,000 to support the Republican state legislator challenging Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, in the fourth district congressional primary.
The group said Monday it would invest in direct mail, phone calls, and social media advertising aimed at boosting state Senator Randy Feenstra over King, who has been thrown off all congressional committees after making racist comments in an interview.
Now more than ever, the people of Iowas 4th District need a voice in Washington, D.C., Defending Main Street Treasurer, Sarah Chamberlain, said in a statement.
The small businesses, farmers, and families of this district are being excluded from eminently crucial decision-making amid the pandemic. It is time to restore the level of comprehensive representation these Iowans deserve,” she added.
King was stripped of his committee assignments by House Republicans last year after they repeatedly condemned his remarks. The final straw for those House Republicans were comments last January about white nationalism.
King had asked in a New York Times interview: White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization how did that language become offensive? Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?
With Biden Or Sanders At The Top Of The Ticket Democrats Look Down
Liz Brown-Kaiser
WASHINGTON With the party’s presidential race having been whittled down from a historically diverse field to two white men, Democrats are pointing to at least one bright spot when it comes to diversity among their candidates in 2020: state legislative elections.
According to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee , which aims to elect Democratic state legislators nationwide, there are over twice as many Democratic women serving as state delegates or senators compared to their Republican counterparts 1,455 versus 670 respectively. And in some key battleground states, the party has recruited more diverse candidates considering race and sexual identity than the GOP.
DLCC president, Jessica Post, told NBC News in a recent phone interview that diversity matters because it energizes the Democratic base and leads to victories.
Diversity is our winning strategy, she said. Weve recruited great communities thinking about the voices that need to be represented.
The Republican State Leadership Committee the DLCCs counterpart did not respond to NBC News request to confirm these numbers but answered several other questions last week, saying they are supporting candidates of various backgrounds in pivotal states.
The DLCC’s Post argues that the GOP views legislative diversity as a mere add-on to their agenda, saying that the party has fallen down on the job.
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Nyc Democratic House Candidate Announces Positive Covid
Ben Kamisar
WASHINGTON New York City Democratic House candidate Suraj Patel has tested positive for COVID-19, he confirmed in a new statement Monday.
Patel, one of the candidates featured in a recent MTP Blog story about how the new social distancing guidelines and the threat of coronavirus has fundamentally upended House campaigns, disclosed his positive test in a new statement posted on social media and on the blogging platform Medium.
He said he began developing symptoms earlier this month which he described as “troubling tightness in my chest and difficulty breathing followed by a regular fever of 102 degrees. Patel lives with two doctors, one of whom is his brother, which he said underscored the need for him to test to see if had COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, so that his roommates would know whether they were at risk.
Patel said that ultimately, he and his two housemates all tested positive. But he’s now “fully recovered” and “asymptomatic.”
“New Yorkers and Americans at large are stepping up in a tremendous unified way. We know how important it is to our most vulnerable populations that we slow the growth of this COVID epidemic. But as this becomes less abstract and more personal when peoples loved ones start to show symptoms human nature is such that we are going to want certainty and safety,” Patel wrote, before calling for universal COVID testing.
Patel is running in the Democratic primary against longtime Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
