'Worse than Trump': Gallup poll slams US media for 'worst' coronavirus performance, praises first responders
The coronavirus crisis is only snowballing in the US with each passing day and authorities and agencies have found themselves under immense pressure to act. President Donald Trump has been accused of responding slowly and allowing the pandemic to take a bigger toll. It has also been alleged that he has been less cooperative with states in granting the federal response to help.
The president though, has claimed that his administration has done a good job overall in keeping the country safe. But the US has the most number of affected people in the world (over 142,000) and a death toll of over 2,500.
The president has hit out at the media saying it has not given his team a just coverage. On Sunday, March 29, too, Trump had a face-off with a female journalist at the coronavirus presser where he asked the media to be nice after she asked him a question over his controversial ventilators remark made at a recent interview to Fox’s Sean Hannity.
Trump has done better than the media
Last week, the Gallup poll came up with a survey covering individuals and agencies handling the coronavirus response and therein, the media did the worse. In fact, the fourth pillar of democracy was the only group to have received negative reviews more than the positive. Only 44 percent of the Americans approved of how the media has handled the coronavirus while 55 percent did not.
Trump, on the other hand, did well in the poll. Sixty percent of Americans approved of how the president has handled the coronavirus response while 38 percent spoke against him.
Hospitals did the best, according to the poll which was conducted between March 13 and 22. While 88 percent approved of their role, 10 percent did not. Schools and day-care were the second-best with an approval rate of 83 percent and nine percent of disapproval rate. State governments did well with 82 percent approval and 17 percent disapproval. The employers also got a pat on their back with 82 percent approval and 14 percent disapproval. Trump came after that and he was followed by the Congress with 59 percent approval and 37 percent disapproval rate.
The Gallup poll covered 1,020 adults living in all 50 states and DC and had a margin of sampling error of +/- four percentage points.
Monmouth University poll also gives media a low rating
On Monday, March 23, a poll by Monmouth University was published and it too showed the Americans’ disapproval of the media’s role. Forty-five percent approved of the media’s role while 43 percent disapproved. Trump, according to that poll, received an approval rate of 50 percent and a disapproval rate of 45 percent.
In this poll, it was also seen that 38 percent of the American public did a good job while dealing with the outbreak but 45 percent did a bad job.
The Monmouth poll said it is the governors who did the best in handling the crisis with an approval rate of 72 percent and disapproval of 18 percent. Health agencies in the federal government also received a more positive response (65 percent) than negative (24) to finish second after the governors.