How Americans view Donald Trump’s conduct in office, specifically how he’s handled what has become the biggest crisis of his presidency, will go a long way in determining his odds of reelection this November.

President Donald Trump and his actions typically become the center of every news story, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception.

Detractors of the president have criticized his delayed action and irresponsible rhetoric, while his supporters believe he has taken appropriate measures for an unforeseeable public health crisis. Polling on his conduct seems just as split.

A joint poll was conducted by ABC News and Ipsos Poll over two separate spans of time: the first from March 11-12, and the second from March 18-19. During the first period, a majority of Americans disapproved of the way President Trump was handling the crisis. 54% disapproved, while only 43% supported his conduct.

This poll took place following the peak of the president’s downplaying of the situation. For weeks previously, Trump had insisted that there was no major crisis, and that the deadliness of the coronavirus was being overplayed by both congressional Democrats and the media establishment. The president gave repeated assurances that the economy would bounce back from its initial scare and took no greater actions up to this point than a travel ban on China and continental Europe. The White House even attempted to haggle down the cost of the first relief package.

The day after this poll was conducted, President Trump declared a national state of emergency over what the World Health Organization had labeled a pandemic. A separate poll, conducted by Politico and Morning Consult from March 13 to 16, showed a near unanimity of Americans, 84%, supported the national emergency declaration. Only 7% opposed it.

Americans were much happier to see the administration taking an active role in managing the crisis. It was also after March 13, when the declaration was made, that President Trump’s public tone shifted as well to something more serious, a change that was picked up on in the press.

One week later, when ABC and Ipsos conducted the latter half of their poll, the numbers had reversed. 55% of Americans approved of how Donald Trump was responding to the coronavirus, while 43% continued to disapprove. This was after the administration had passed a second relief bill and began making profuse public statements that Americans follow the health recommendations set forth by the Center for Disease Control.

How Americans view Donald Trump’s conduct in office, specifically how he’s handled what has become the biggest crisis of his presidency, will go a long way in determining his odds of reelection this November. That month he’ll most likely face former Vice President Joe Biden, who has put forth his own plan to handle the coronavirus.

A poll conducted by The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research between March 12 and 16 showed that 66% of Americans were either “very worried” or “somewhat worried” that they or one of their family members would become infected with the virus. This is a twenty-point shift from last month.

Hunter DeRensis is the senior reporter for the National Interest. Follow him on Twitter @HunterDeRensis.

Image: U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions during the coronavirus response daily briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst