Scott Jennings, a CNN contributor, is a former special assistant to President George W. Bush and a former campaign adviser to Sen. Mitch McConnell. He is a partner at RunSwitch Public Relations in Louisville, Kentucky. Follow him on Twitter @ScottJenningsKY. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) As the coronavirus crisis unfolds and media and Democratic bashing of President Donald Trump continues, a curious thing is happening -- his numbers are going up.

Scott Jennings

The Gallup poll this week recorded its highest ever job approval for the President (49% approve, versus 45% who don't). Likewise, Trump is generally getting decent marks on his handling of the pandemic, with Gallup showing 60% approval on the subject.

The question is -- why? Trump has lived in a very tight job-approval zone for most of his presidency, hovering around 42-43% among registered and likely voters. But today, FiveThirtyEight's Trump job approval tracker shows him with an average approval of 44.9% and the RealClearPolitics tracker has him at 46.3%.

He's been lifted, apparently, by his handling of the coronavirus, and perhaps by his opposition's mishandling of it. I think a few things are at work, and a smattering of each could easily explain his lift:

1. In its reporting on the pandemic, as with most issues, the press along with Democrat politicians have gone overboard criticizing the President. And because neither of those institutions is all that trusted by the American people -- 45% of respondents in a CBS poll this week said they think the media is overreacting -- they may see that overreaction as a signal that Trump has got this. Some 51% in the CBS poll said they think Trump is "about right" in his reaction to the crisis.

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