Poll: Plurality Disapprove of Biden’s Handling of the Chinese Coronavirus

A plurality of Americans disapprove of President Biden’s handling of the Chinese coronavirus, a Yahoo!News/YouGov survey released this week found.

While Biden’s overall approval is underwater by double digits, he is also tanking on key issues, such as the coronavirus — a major selling point of his presidential campaign in 2020, as he vowed to crush the virus.

According to the survey, 47 percent disapprove of his handling of the coronavirus, while 44 percent approve. Notably, a majority of independents and Republicans, 56 percent and 79 percent, respectively, disapprove of his handling of this key issue. 

The survey was taken February 24-27, 2022, among 1,532 U.S. adults and came over a year into Biden’s presidency. Over the course of the last year, Biden has gone back on his word on a number of issues on the virus, including masking and vaccine mandates. 

He originally pitched “just” 100 days of masking, yet Americans are still required to wear face coverings for air travel. In fact, the White House itself did not opt to lift its mask requirement until the very day of the president’s SOTU address — convenient timing, many have pointed out. Additionally, Biden originally said in December 2020 that he would not mandate the vaccine, only to attempt to do so months later, setting up a battle in the Supreme Court, which struck down his Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) vaccine mandate in January. 

Additionally, in October 2020, Biden expressed outrage over the number of Americans who died due to the Chinese coronavirus. 

“If you hear nothing else I say tonight, hear this. Anyone who’s responsible for not taking control — in fact, not saying, I take no responsibility, initially — anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain as President of the United States of America,” he said.

That number now stands at over 949,000 under Biden, who said during Tuesday’s State of the Union address that “we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines” under his presidency, seemingly attempting to attribute the normalcy to “progress” made during his presidency, despite the fact that the science has not changed and restrictions continued.