But here’s what Trump doesn’t seem to appreciate: As terrible as this economic coma is for so many of us, the public isn’t crying out to hastily resume normal life. They’ve come to appreciate the danger from the virus and they’re largely complying with social distancing recommendations (though, of course, there are exceptions). And they aren’t looking for leaders who will tell them there’s nothing to worry about.

AD

AD

If you want proof, look at what polls are telling us about the nation’s governors.

Trump and the governors are largely at odds. He takes time out from his daily White House briefing-room campaign rallies to attack governors who he thinks have been insufficiently appreciative of him, and has had high-profile clashes with a couple in particular, including Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer.

And while there are some red-state exceptions, in general governors have been much more aggressive in the warnings they’ve given about the dangers of the virus and the actions they’ve taken to lock down their states.

So how has the public responded? Recent polls show approval ratings of governors averaging about 25 points higher than approval of Trump. If there’s a desire to rally around our leaders, we aren’t rallying around the president but around those at the state and local level.

AD

AD

But the real story is in which governors are winning the support of their constituents. It’s not the governors who echoed Trump’s dismissive attitude toward the pandemic for as long as they could. The governors getting the highest marks are the ones who have been most aggressive in ordering closures and communicating to their states that this is an era-defining crisis that requires sacrifice from all of us.

That includes both Republicans and Democrats — but the Republicans are the ones who have been notable for going where the president wouldn’t. Mike DeWine in Ohio, for instance, got criticism from many, including Republicans, for shutting down the state’s primary election and issuing an early shelter-in-place order. He now enjoys an approval of more than 80 percent.

Other governors who have become hugely popular include Larry Hogan in Maryland (also a Republican), Gavin Newsom in California (whose approval shot up by more than 40 points), and Andrew M. Cuomo in New York, all of whom have taken strong steps to enforce social distancing and have made forceful public appearances telling their constituents how serious the crisis is.

AD

AD

One governor who hasn’t experienced that kind of bump? Trump loyalist Ron DeSantis in Florida.

In one poll DeSantis’s approval came in at 51 percent, which would be pretty good in ordinary times but actually represents a decline from what he got in some polls from before the pandemic. DeSantis delayed issuing a lockdown order until after many other states had already done so, earning widespread criticism.

Of course, we’re all eager for the crisis to be over. But people seem to understand the risk in declaring victory too early. Let’s take this recent poll from Quinnipiac. While 63 percent of Americans said they expected the crisis to be over in a few months, only 10 percent said they thought it would be over in a few weeks — when Trump is now saying he wants to reopen the economy. And 81 percent say they’d support a national stay-at-home order.

AD

AD

If 4 out of 5 Americans say that even as we all understand what it means in terms of inconvenience and economic cost, that suggests Americans are not just waiting for someone to give them the all clear to resume their normal activities.

And if Trump does come out in three weeks and tell everyone to go back to the movies, it’s going to be hugely controversial — and he doesn’t have the authority to do it anyway. The lockdown orders come from the state level, and it’s governors who can lift them.

But I’ll bet Trump thinks we’ll all thank him for telling us to go back to work, no matter how premature it seems. We have an idea, reinforced by popular culture, that in times of great stress everyone will turn on each other, making society into a nightmare of selfishness. In fact, what we see much more of is solidarity, with people pitching in to a common cause and finding ways to help their neighbors.

AD

AD

That kind of behavior is utterly alien to Trump. Indeed, he may be one of the most selfish human beings ever to walk the earth, and he probably assumes everyone else is just like him. But it’s already more than clear that he’s wrong.