( Reuters) – Earl Kerr, a 57- year-old electrical professional in Jacksonville, Florida, states he fears for his 80- year-old mom, who went into an assisted living facility prior to the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States. And he says he worries that the tanking economy will sink his small company.
FILE PICTURE: U.S. President Donald Trump deals with the everyday coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 7,2020 REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
But he has faith in U.S. President Donald Trump to manage the crisis. He’s heard the widespread criticism that Trump at first didn’t take the pandemic seriously, that his administration stopped working to procure important medical materials and left overloaded states to fend for themselves. Kerr has a different take.
” He’s not God. He can’t foresee the future or see that the infection can do this or that,” said Kerr, who voted for Trump in 2016 and plans to again in November. “He’s doing the very best he can with the information that he gets.”
Continued assistance from voters like Kerr might show vital to Trump’s re-election bid – specifically due to the fact that the regions where the president has drawn assistance typically overlap with those most vulnerable to the pandemic, a Reuters analysis programs. The analysis found one in five of Trump’s 2016 voters live in areas where health and financial elements heighten their threats from the coronavirus. Kerr is amongst 30 citizens spoken with by Reuters who live in such at-risk cities in Florida, Ohio and West Virginia and who voted for Trump in 2016 or support him now.
The interviews, in addition to the current Reuters/Ipsos polling information, reveal stalwart support among Trump’s political base in the middle of the worst public health crisis in a century, with an increasing U.S. death toll that has now gone beyond 12,700, predictions of an economic anxiety, and the U.S. stock market’s most significant first-quarter loss in history. However neither has Trump delighted in the dramatic gains in popularity that previous presidents have actually in some cases seen throughout crises, when patriotism frequently runs high – showing a hardening of the bitter partisanship that has been the trademark of his administration.
Prior to the pandemic, the president had actually trumpeted a skyrocketing economy and record-low unemployment to charm the moderate and independent voters he requires to win the election – specifically in essential battleground states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida. That pitch vaporized in the pandemic, making perceptions of his emergency situation action all the more important. Current surveys in Florida and Wisconsin revealed Trump routing Biden by between three and six points.
Perceptions of crisis response have had a pivotal influence on the appeal of previous presidents. The experience of George W. Bush – the last Republican president, likewise a polarizing figure – offers a vibrant example of partisanship breaking down in some of the country’s darkest times. Bush’