One of the more vexing subplots of the coronavirus crisis has been polling that suggests a majority of Americans somehow approve of how Donald Trump is handling the pandemic. How could the guy who slashed his government’s pandemic response team and spent crucial weeks playing down the COVID-19 threat find himself enjoying the highest poll numbers of his presidency? How did more than half of the country see him failing to deliver supplies to those on the frontlines of the pandemic, lashing out against local leaders, and bragging about TV ratings and think, Yes—this guy is doing a fine job?

The gap between Trump’s lackluster response and a good portion of the public’s perception has been hard to grasp, and seemed like an ominous sign. If Americans were largely cool with his slipshod handling so far, even as the outbreak spread and the death toll rose, what, exactly, would be unacceptable? But it seems that at least some are reversing course. According to a new CNN poll, a majority of Americans now disapprove of Trump’s coronavirus response, with 55% saying that both he and his administration could be doing more to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. That’s up since early March, as the situation escalated in the United States, suggesting that the more Americans have seen from the president in this public health emergency, the less they like what they see.

That only 55% disapprove seems low still, given the chaos that has characterized the administration’s response. But individual polls are not gospel, especially given the fluid nature of the situation. It’s possible that as the crisis worsens, proving Trump’s predictions incorrect, disapproval will continue to grow. For a president who has put the politics of the pandemic over the actual work of combating it, that could be worrisome, considering November’s election is shaping up to be a referendum of his leadership in this era-defining crisis.

On the other hand, Trump could still be better positioned than his ostensible competitor, Joe Bien who even Democrats worry has fallen off the scene. While Biden films from his basement studio, a top adviser to a former Democratic presidential candidate told my colleague Chris Smith, Trump is “out there looking big and important, and seeming to do big and important things. That’s why Trump’s approval numbers have gone up.” Indeed, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll out Wednesday, most voters prefer Trump’s leadership during the pandemic to Biden’s. Though the poll also showed that a vast majority of respondents—52% to 38%—said that Barack Obama would be their first choice. For a president who’s famously insecure about his standing compared with that of his predecessor, that has to be tough to swallow.

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