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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Coronavirus concerns trump 'law and order': poll

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Coronavirus concerns trump 'law and order': poll
Coronavirus concerns trump 'law and order': poll

President Trump’s attempt to make civil unrest a central theme of his re-election campaign has yet to boost his political standing, as most Americans do not see crime as a major problem, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.

Lisa Bernhard produced this report.

He’s running as the ‘law and order’ candidate, but President Trump’s focus on civil unrest as a central theme of his re-election campaign has yet to boost his political standing, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday.

The reason?

Crime is not a top problem, most Americans say – the coronavirus is.

With more than 180,000 people dead and over 6 million infected – more than any other country in the world - 78% of registered voters remain “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the coronavirus.

Nearly 60% said Trump is at least partly responsible for the prolonged school and business closures due to the virus.

Only about 8% of American adults listed crime as a top priority for the country.

Trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden in most national opinion polls, Trump has sought to change the subject from the pandemic to civil unrest, blaming Black Lives Matter protesters for violence in cities and accusing Biden of being weak on crime.

But Biden’s lead has remained largely unchanged over the past three weeks, during which both parties held their political conventions.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that 40% of registered voters support Trump, compared with 47% who said they will vote for Biden.

And 53% said they back those protesting against racial inequality.

While support for the protesters has declined overall since the immediate aftermath of the police killing in May of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked a national conversation on race, the poll showed that more than half of suburban Americans and more than half of undecided registered voters are still sympathetic to the protesters.

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