Rim Country Gazette: As Trump commands nation to 'REOPEN,' more Americans blame him for mounting death toll

Friday, May 22, 2020

As Trump commands nation to 'REOPEN,' more Americans blame him for mounting death toll

US President Donald Trump takes part in a ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe at the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, on May 8, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

As a rather mentally addled sociopath, Donald Trump doesn't grasp a lot of things, particularly when it comes to any human emotions that aren't exclusively centered around himself. So as Trump tweets out his demands to "REOPENOURCOUNTRY!" and "TRANSITION TO GREATNESS," he really isn't tracking the fact that the vast majority of Americans aren't running into that burning building, especially as he issues commands from his White House cocoon.

The Washington Post's Philip Bump has a nice round-up of the various polling, including Quinnipiac's finding that three-quarters of voters prefer a "slower reopening"—including fully 50% of Republicans and 74% of independents—even if it hurts the economy.

The message from voters, according to Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy: "Reopen slowly, even if we are rolling the dice on how it will affect the economy, say three-quarters of American voters." In other words, by and large, Americans are still on the side of prioritizing living over that fine dining experience they crave.

Bar graph showing 75% of voters favor a slower reopening, including more than 90% of Democrats, 74% of indies, and 50% of Republicans.

Overall, Americans are also largely supportive of restrictions in their area, with full 81% saying they’re about right (54%) or don't go far enough (27%), in the latest AP/NORC poll. Only a fringe 18% of Americans think restrictions in their area go too far, and the bulk of that group is made up of Republicans (34% Republicans, 13% independents, and 6% Democrats). So those anti-lockdown protests continue to represent a decisive minority of the country.

But here's another data point from Navigator Research that clearly hasn't sunk in at the White House: The number of Americans who say Trump is responsible for the high U.S. death toll is on the rise, ticking up 11 points in a month from 50% to 61%. Even among Republicans, that number has nearly doubled in the last month, from 14% to 27%. And among independents, the number holding Trump at least somewhat or mostly responsible has soared from 41% last month to 68% this month.

That’s the data point that really matters in November. By then, America will unfortunately be facing a crushing death toll (we're almost at 100,000 now), and the real question is: Who will Americans blame? Trump and the Republicans will be doing everything possible to run a misdirection on that answer, but it appears a growing number of Americans are reaching the right conclusion all the time.