- The New York Times Upshot / Siena College Poll:
- Biden Leads Trump 50-36% in National Poll
- Voters Approve President Trump’s Handling of Economy 50-45% But
- Give Him Negative Overall Job Approval Rating; Majorities
- Disapprove his Handling of Coronavirus, Race Relations & Protests
By 59-30%, Voters say George Floyd’s Death Is Part of a Pattern and Not an Isolated Incident; 57% Support Demonstrations
Coronavirus: Majority Thinks Worst is Still to Come; 55% Say Federal Priority Should be to Contain Virus Even if it Hurts the Economy; Only Republicans Disagree
Loudonville, NY. Former Vice-President Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump 50-36 percent, according to a new national New York Times/Siena College poll of registered voters. By 50-45 percent, voters approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, but overall, by 56-41 percent, voters disapprove of the way he is handling his job as President. Sixty-two percent of voters disapprove of the way the President is handling the protests after the death of George Floyd, 61 percent disapprove of his handling of race relations, and 58 percent disapprove of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Both Trump and Biden hold the support of 90 percent of voters of their own party, but independents favor Biden by 18 points. Men are nearly evenly split but women prefer Biden by 22 points, and both voters over 45 years of age and white voters are evenly split while younger voters and both Black and Latino voters are strongly with Biden,” said Siena College Research Institute Director Don Levy. “Trump’s favorability nationally is a negative 40-56 percent while Biden’s is a positive 52-42 percent.
“Among the 61 percent of voters that say that they are almost certain to vote in November, Biden’s lead slips a little to 51-40 percent,” Levy said.
By nearly two-to-one, 59-30 percent, voters think George Floyd’s death is part of a broader pattern of excessive police violence toward African-Americans rather than an isolated incident. The demonstrations that have taken place across the country are supported by 57 percent of Americans as mainly peaceful protests with an important message, and they are opposed by 38 percent who say too many of the demonstrations have turned to violent rioting.
“A majority of Americans, 57 percent, disagree with the statement, ‘Today, discrimination against whites has become as big of a problem as discrimination against Blacks or other minorities,’ while 39 percent of all Americans and 60 percent of Republicans agree,” Levy said. “Fifty-six percent of voters, including 89 percent of Blacks, say that the criminal justice system is biased against African Americans and similarly 54 percent of all voters and 87 percent of Blacks say the police are more likely to use deadly force against a Black person.”
Asked about the coronavirus, 57 percent of voters think the worst of the pandemic is still to come while only 34 percent say that the worst is over. Fifty-five percent of voters say the federal government’s priority should be to contain the spread of the coronavirus even if it hurts the economy, compared to 34 percent who say the priority should be to restart the economy even if it increases the risk to public health.
“Attitudes towards what George Floyd’s death says about policing, support or opposition to the subsequent demonstrations, and how the federal government should prioritize their response to the coronavirus have all become highly partisan issues. In each case, Democrats and Republicans have polar opposite opinions. Democrats strongly say Floyd’s death is part of a pattern, they support the demonstrations, and want the federal government to prioritize containing the virus even if it hurts the economy. Republicans say Floyd’s death was an isolated incident, they oppose the demonstrations, and want the feds to prioritize restarting the economy. At this point, independents are in the middle, but a majority of them side with the Democrats’ view,” Levy said.
This New York Times /Siena College National survey was conducted June 17-22, 2020 by telephone calls in English and Spanish to 1337 registered voters. This poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.0 percentage points. Calls were made to a stratified weighted sample of voters from the L-2 Voter list via both land and cell phones. The data was weighted by party, age, race/ethnicity, education, region and gender. Polling support for this project provided by Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College, Reconnaissance Market Research, and The Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida. The Siena College Research Institute, directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D., conducts political, economic, social and cultural research primarily in NYS. SCRI, an independent, non-partisan research institute, subscribes to the American Association of Public Opinion Research Code of Professional Ethics and Practices. For more information, please call Don Levy at 518-783-2901. Survey cross-tabulations and frequencies can be found at: www.Siena.edu/SCRI/SNY.
