Utah GOP delegates give President Donald Trump and Gov. Gary Herbert high marks for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic according to a new survey.
The Dan Jones and Associates survey of Republican Party delegates provided to UtahPolicy.com finds 54 percent of delegates say they feel very favorable toward President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis and 30 percent felt somewhat favorable. 16 percent had an unfavorable opinion of how President Trump has dealt with the situation.
GOP delegates felt even more strongly that Gov. Gary Herbert has handled the crisis correctly. 92 percent said they had a very or somewhat favorable opinion about Herbert’s leadership during the pandemic.
The survey was conducted among 407 Republican delegates who plan to participate in this week’s online state convention. The survey has a margin of error +/- 4.65 percentage points.
Trump’s high marks from GOP delegates stands in stark contrast to the nation as a whole. A new NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll found 52 percent of voters disapprove of Trump’s response to the pandemic while 44 percent approve.
Just last week, both President Trump and Gov. Herbert said they want the economy to start running again. Herbert said Friday he believes some restaurants can begin offering in-person dining starting May 1. Gyms may also be allowed to open on that date and some medical facilities can perform elective surgeries.
Despite the high marks for leadership, the coronavirus pandemic is hitting the economy quite hard. Nationwide, more than 22 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past four weeks, wiping out all of the job gains made since the Great Recession. In Utah, more than 100,000 Utahns have filed for unemployment insurance in recent weeks, which is more than all of 2019.
Just over half of GOP delegates say they believe the coronavirus will impact their employment. 34 percent said the pandemic will have a “strong” impact on their employment situation while 20 percent believe it will have a “moderate” impact on their employment. 46 percent said they think the virus will have “some” or no impact at all on their employment.
