Utahns are more worried about opening the state up too quickly from the coronavirus outbreak than they are that GOP Gov. Gary Herbert is moving too quickly, a new UtahPolicy.com/KUTV 2News shows.
In addition, Utahns don’t trust President Donald Trump’s virus information, and they don’t trust the GOP-controlled Legislature’s information about the outbreak, either, Y2 Analytics finds in a new survey.
And Utahns don’t trust the national news organizations concerning the virus, while they are split over whether to trust local news outlets’ reporting on the virus.
That all is not very encouraging.
However, Utahns do trust, for the most part, Herbert’s information on the virus — up until recently, the governor was holding daily, then twice-a-week televised, briefings on how the state is doing in fighting the virus.
Fifty-seven percent said they trust what Herbert has to say about the virus and the state’s fight against it; while 43 percent don’t trust him.
Herbert recently moved most of the state from “orange” designation to “yellow,” meaning a number of Utah businesses and activities can open up, assuming “social distancing” efforts are maintained.
Still, 59 percent of Utahns say they worry the state is moving too quickly in opening up the economy, while 41 percent said just the opposite: The state is moving too slowly in opening up while the virus is still active among the populace.
Utahns also trust county officials and health departments’ information on the outbreak and how to fight it; they trust the federal Center for Disease Control (CDC); and health care professionals, Y2 finds.
As you would expect, Utah “strong” Republicans and “strong” conservatives do trust Trump. But other Utahns don’t.
While 62 percent of all Utahns don’t trust Trump, 81 percent of “strong” Republicans do trust what the president says about the virus outbreak and how to fight it. While 82 percent of “strong” conservatives trust the president.
Political independents don’t trust Trump (70 percent); and 97 percent of “strong” Democrats don’t trust him when it comes to the virus. At least those groups won’t likely be drinking bleach, as the president once suggested.
Other numbers:
- More women are worried about opening up too quickly than are men — 67 percent of women say the state is moving too quickly, while just 52 percent of men agree, a 15-percentage-point difference.
- More women don’t trust Trump to give them good information on the virus: 68 percent of women say Trump is untrustworthy when it comes to the virus, while 56 percent of men don’t trust him, a 12-percentage-point difference.
- 72 percent of Utahns don’t trust the national news media when it comes to virus reporting. But 93 percent of “strong” Republicans don’t trust the national reporting on the virus, and 96 percent of “strong” conservatives don’t trust the national press. In general, the national press definition DOES NOT include Fox News — which Republicans and conservatives generally trust more than traditional news outlets.
- The local news outlets fair a bit better: 42 percent of Utahns do trust local news on virus reporting, but 58 percent don’t trust them. And, again, “strong” Republicans don’t trust the local media (71 percent), while “strong” conservatives don’t trust the local media to report on the virus (76 percent).
Y2 polled 1,099 people from May 9-15, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.