Republicans Sad and Worried, Democrats Happy and Indifferent Over Donald Trump’s COVID Diagnosis: Poll

A new poll conducted barely 12 hours after Republican President Donald Trump announced his COVID-19 diagnosis has shown that many Republicans feel sad and worried about Trump’s condition while many Democrats feel happy or indifferent about it.

© Tasos Katopodis/Getty
US President Donald Trump holds up a COVID-19 testing swab at his April 19 daily coronavirus briefing. A new poll has shown the difference between Republicans and Democrats a day after Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

The poll—conducted by the technology company Morning Consult and the political publication Politico—polled nearly 1,000 Americans on Friday from 12:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.. The pollsters asked several questions about people’s reactions to Trump’s diagnosis.

While 55 percent of Republicans reported feeling “sad” and 51 percent reported feeling “worried” about his diagnosis, 40 percent of Democrats said they felt “happy” and 41 percent said they felt “indifferent” about it.

All respondents said they’re more concerned about the economy than the president’s well-being following his announcement. While 78 percent said they are concerned about the economy and the country, only 51 percent said they were concerned about the president’s well-being.

When asked about their concern for the president’s well-being, 46 percent of Democrats said they’re not concerned at all whereas 78 percent of Republicans said they’re somewhat or very concerned about it.

As for other emotional reactions to Trump’s diagnosis, 40 percent of all respondents said they felt “surprised.” Among Republicans, 45 percent said they felt “upset” and 41 percent said they felt “confident.” Among Democrats, 32 percent said they felt “frustrated” or “worried,” 31 percent said they felt “excited” and 30 percent said they felt “angry.”

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Of all the respondents, 70 percent said Trump should address the nation about his COVID-19 diagnosis, but 55 percent also said they don’t trust him to provide accurate information about his state of health.

Nearly half of both Republicans and Democrats said they are now worried about the future of the economy following the president’s diagnosis.

The polling also showed that 53 percent of all respondents remain concerned about the ongoing coronavirus epidemic following the president’s diagnosis. The percentage roughly matches the same percentage of people who felt concerned about the pandemic when asked about it by Morning Consult from September 25 to 27.

Early on Friday morning, the president announced his infection by tweeting, “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has said that the White House medical staff has begun contact tracing to notify and quarantine any individuals who came into contact with Trump, the first lady or Trump’s senior advisor Hope Hicks. Hicks was revealed as positive for COVID-19 on Thursday evening.

On Friday evening, Trump was transported to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland to receive more testing and treatment.

Newsweek contacted the Democratic National Committee for comment.

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