North Carolinians aren’t happy with Trump’s handling of coronavirus, new poll shows
Less than a quarter of the people in North Carolina would give the president and federal public health officials an “excellent” rating for how they’ve handled the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new High Point University poll.
The university conducted the poll April 16 to May 1, before Gov. Roy Cooper began the first steps to reopen the state during the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 500 people have died from the virus in North Carolina and more than 13,500 have tested positive, according to a tally by The News and Observer.
“Local elected officials (17%), ordinary people in local communities (17%) and state elected officials (13%) received lower excellent response ratings. The news media received the lowest excellent response rating (9%) and the highest poor response rating of (38%) from our poll respondents,” High Point University pollsters said.
“North Carolinians expressed in the most recent HPU Poll that they believe the coronavirus will be a major threat to the economy,” said poll assistant director Brian McDonald. “However, our poll respondents said that most people and groups are reacting in the right way in response to the coronavirus.”
About a third, 31%, of North Carolinians said the federal government is not taking the outbreak seriously enough and 49% said it is “reacting about right,” the poll shows. About 70% said state and local governments were “reacting about right.” Schools fared the best with 80% for the same question.
| | Excellent | Good | Only Fair | Poor | (Don’t know/ Refused) |
| Public health officials such as those at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | 23% | 42% | 22% | 10% | 3% |
| Donald Trump | 22% | 24% | 16% | 37% | 3% |
| Your local elected officials | 17% | 40% | 23% | 12% | 8% |
| Ordinary people in your local community | 17% | 36% | 27% | 17% | 3% |
| Your state elected officials | 13% | 43% | 27% | 14% | 3% |
| The news media | 9% | 26% | 21% | 38% | 6% |
When asked, “Do you think things in this country are generally going in the right direction or do you feel things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track?” 57% of respondents answered with “wrong track.” Thirty-four percent said the country is going in the right direction, and 9% did not answer.
The poll also asked if people approved of the president and governor’s performance.
For President Donald Trump, 44% approved of his job performance and 46% disapproved, and 10% either didn’t know or did not reply.
Gov. Roy Cooper did better in his approval ratings, with 60% approval and 20% disapproval (20% declined to reply or didn’t know).
Economic worries
Most North Carolinians see the pandemic as a major economic threat. The poll found 84% see the virus as a major threat to the United States economy and 79% say it’s a major threat to the world economy.
The poll asked, “How much of a threat, if any, is the coronavirus outbreak for…”
| | A major threat | A minor threat | Not a threat | (Don’t know/ Refused) |
| The U.S. economy | 84% | 11% | 2% | 3% |
| The world economy | 79% | 14% | 2% | 6% |
| The North Carolina economy | 71% | 20% | 3% | 5% |
| The health of the U.S. population | 65% | 29% | 4% | 2% |
| Your personal financial situation | 36% | 41% | 19% | 4% |
| Your personal health | 33% | 46% | 19% | 3% |
The poll has a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points for all adults.
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 12:05 PM.
