Majority of Americans think Trump could have avoided coronavirus, poll says

President could have avoided infection if he took pandemic ‘more seriously’, Americans think

A totl of 65 per cent of Americans said the president could have avoided being infected with coronavirus if he had taken the pandemic “more seriously”, a new poll has found.

This includes nine in 10 registered Democrats and five in 10 registered Republicans agreeing that Donald Trump “probably would not have been infected” if he had stuck to anti-viral regulations more closely.

According to the poll by Reuters and Ipsos, more than half (57 per cent) of Americans said they disapproved of Mr Trump’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic overall, up about three points from a poll that ran late last week.

Majority of Americans (67 per cent) were also in favour of stopping in-person campaigning to ensure everyone is kept safe, and 59 per cent think the presidential debates should be postponed until the president recovers from coronavirus.

The poll also showed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has opened his widest lead in a month in the presidential race, gaining a 10-point edge over Mr Trump.

Among adults who are expected to cast their ballots in the election on 3 November, the poll found that 51 per cent backed Mr Biden, while 41 per cent said they were voting for Mr Trump.

Four per cent said they were choosing a third party candidate, while another four per cent said they were undecided.

With just shy of a month to go before the election, Mr Biden must prevail in enough states to win the Electoral College, but state polls show that Mr Trump is nearly as popular as his opponent in battleground states.

It is still unclear how the president’s fight against coronavirus will impact the next presidential debate, which is scheduled for 15 October. The first vice presidential debate between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Mike Pence is set to go ahead on Thursday.