Party Affiliation Dictates Responses to ‘Chinese Virus’

Voters are closely divided over how the government has responded so far to the coronavirus threat, but, even in a time of national emergency, it appears that party affiliation overrides all.

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{snip} 77% of Trump’s fellow Republicans give his response to the coronavirus positive marks, but 57% of Democrats and 54% of voters not affiliated with either major party think he’s doing poorly.

Similarly, 56% of Democrats say it’s racist when Trump refers to the virus which originated in Wuhan, China as “a Chinese virus.” Sixty percent (60%) of GOP voters disagree. Unaffiliateds are almost evenly divided.

Among all voters, 46% say it’s racist to refer to the coronavirus as “a Chinese virus,” but 47% disagree.

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Americans strongly support the government’s travel bans and school closings in response to the coronavirus threat, but one-in-four think panic, not reason, is driving some decisions.

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The older the voter, the more likely they are to think that the response by federal, state and local governments has been about right. Older voters are also more likely to give the president positive marks for his response and less likely to see his reference to “the Chinese virus” as racist.

Blacks are much more critical of Trump’s response than whites and other minority voters are. One-in-five black voters are undecided, though, when asked how to rate the responses by federal, state and local governments.

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Given China’s initial silence about the outbreak of the coronavirus which allowed it to spread worldwide, a sizable number of voters here think the Asian giant needs to pay for some of the losses the virus has caused.

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