(NewsNation Now) — The American public is growing wary and weary of President Joe Biden and the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to new research by NewsNation.
This NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll of 1,000 registered voters, completed this week by Decision Desk HQ, revealed this: More than half of those polled don’t trust health institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You can read the full NewsNation poll here.
Distrust and confusion by the public were evident toward government institutions, the media and other public figures. Only 31% trust news coming from the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and just 16% trust information from Biden. Lack of trust in institutions and fear about the pandemic this persistent, two years into the pandemic, surprised lawmakers.
U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., blames widespread misinformation for sowing distrust and confusion.
“Instead of having a whole of America patriotic response that we’re all in this together and we need to protect each other, we’ve had a lot of misinformation being shared,” Scanlon told NewsNation.
Scanlon blames former President Donald Trump for the current pandemic issues, but many Americans also blame the Biden administration. Of those polled by NewsNation/Decision Desk, 55% disapprove of Biden’s handling of the pandemic.
U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., says he feels people have lost faith because Biden set expectations too high and then failed to meet them.
“President Biden running for office, said ‘I’m gonna watch the virus I’m gonna get rid of the virus we’re gonna have, it’s gonna be gone by July,'” said Guthrie.
The poll also found that more than 40% of the country dubbed inflation as one of the biggest problems facing the nation, even more than COVID-19, something Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said is a reason to be hopeful.
“I think you’re going to see some really strong economic trends continue,” said Kaine. “The feelings in the polling data of today may look very, very different when you come to April and May.”