by Robert Romano
President Donald Trump appears impervious to bad news. At least that’s what one might discern from the April 21 Hill/HarrisX poll, where 56 percent approve of his performance on the economy despite 26 million jobs lost and counting amid the government-directed closures in response to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
Overall, 50 percent approve of the job the President is doing. Perhaps that is because of Trump’s Herculean efforts to do whatever it takes to prevent society itself from collapsing while everything is still shuttered up.
The biggest surprise comes from Trump’s growing approval among African-Americans, where 24 percent approve including 9 percent who strongly approve. On the economy, Trump garners 31 percent approval among blacks including 10 percent who strongly approve.
A similar pattern emerges among Hispanics, where 30 percent approve including 10 percent who strongly approve, with the numbers jumping to 36 percent among Hispanics on the economy including 14 percent strong approve.
Overall, Trump’s greatest strength comes on stimulating jobs, where 58 percent approve, including 64 percent of whites, 32 percent of blacks and 51 percent of Hispanics.
Suffice to say, if those are Trump’s numbers on Election Day, it won’t even be close against former Vice President Joe Biden.
How to account for Trump’s resilience amid the economic carnage and devastation from the pandemic? The President has stuck the landing on fighting the COVID-19 outbreak. He quickly organized a military response effort to deliver testing, medical equipment including ventilators and worked closely with State governors to save as many lives as possible. There, Trump gets 51 percent approval.
This explains the left-wing media’s relentless attempts to drive up the President’s negatives almost to a fever pitch. They are growing desperate, and with states and the economy prepped to reopen very soon, Trump has nowhere to go but up. The difference between his overall approval and that on the economy clearly demonstrates that he has room to grow.
And in the back of voters’ minds, they know it was President Trump who was the most concerned about the economic fallout to do with the virus. By effectively dealing with the pandemic, Trump also gets credit for wisely warning that the economy would be taking a big hit, and having the foresight to gain $2.7 trillion from Congress to prop up American businesses.
Trump’s considered yet robust approach to the pandemic to save as many lives and jobs as possible has inoculated the President against apparently any political fallout from the economic crash. He took the approach favored by most Americans, who, in turn, are giving him a pass on the economy that would otherwise realign American politics for a generation for any other incumbent. Can Trump be beat? By now, internally, Democrats must be in a full panic mode.
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Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.
