Two-thirds of Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of the response to nationwide protests over George Floyd’s murder, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Friday.
Meanwhile, nearly three-fourths of respondents said they view Floyd’s murder as a sign of an underlying racial injustice problem — which represents a 30 percent increase since December 2014, four months after the shooting of Michael Brown.
Trump’s approval rating with regard to Floyd’s murder and the ensuing protests, 32 percent, is even lower than for the president’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, which remained at a record-low of 39 percent, the poll found.
ABC News reports: Eclipsing Trump’s underwater approval on the pandemic, however, is his even lower approval rating on his handling of the response to the death of Floyd. Only 32% of Americans approve of Trump’s reaction in the aftermath of Floyd’s death, which has sparked thousands and thousands of protesters in dozens of cities demanding racial justice, while about two-thirds disapprove. A bigger hurdle for the president, however, is the difference in approval among those within his own party on the two crises. While 84% of Republicans approve of the president for his handling of the coronavirus, a far lower 69% of Republicans approve of his response to Floyd’s death.
According to USA Today, polls from CBS News, Emerson College, Reuters/Ipsos and Monmouth University have also found that most Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of Floyd’s murder. However, only the Emerson College poll, which found that 36 percent approve of Trump’s response, was conducted after peaceful protesters were cleared from around the White House on Monday so Trump could visit a nearby church for a photo op.
“The move was derided by former military officials, including retired Gen. James Mattis, Trump’s first secretary of defense, who sharply rebuked the president in a statement Wednesday,” USA Today noted.
