POLL: 59% SAY TRUMP ONE OF WORST U.S. PRESIDENTS

Also, new strain has more people worried about pandemic

Nearly 60 percent of San Diego County residents consider Donald Trump one of America’s worst presidents, and 52 percent think he should be impeached and removed from office, according to a new San Diego Union-Tribune/10News poll conducted by SurveyUSA.

The poll of 500 county residents also found that 63 percent believe Joe Biden won the presidency “fair and square,” and 72 percent believe Trump is at least partly to blame for causing last week’s violence at the U.S. Capitol.

The poll surveyed 500 adult county residents online on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Regarding the U.S. Congress, 79 percent of respondents say any members who helped those committing violence should be removed from office, and 43 percent say members who opposed certifying Biden’s win should be removed.

The poll, released Thursday, also showed that 60 percent of those polled say social media sites like Twitter did “the right thing” by banning the president from posting.

Regarding California’s governor’s race, the poll found that former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer slightly leads incumbent Gavin Newsom, 38 percent to 36 percent, in a hypothetical matchup, with 26 percent undecided.

That result is a statistical dead heat, because the poll’s margin of error was just over 5 percent.

The poll also asked questions about the COVID-19 pandemic. It found people are concerned about new variations of the virus and they are divided about vaccinations, with 35 percent saying they should be mandatory and 56 percent saying they should be optional.

On the Trump questions, ideology and party affiliation played a key role in determining people’s answers. Gender and ethnicity also were significant factors.

While 59 percent of those polled said Trump is one of America’s worst presidents, 65 percent of women agreed with that assessment compared to 52 percent of men.

Whites agreed at a rate of 54 percent, while Hispanics were at 65 percent and Asians were at 56 percent.

Two thirds of the 24 Blacks surveyed also agreed, though the sample size was too small to be statistically reliable.

Recent events seem to have hurt people’s perception of Trump.

In April 2017, the last time SurveyUSA asked county voters whether Trump is one of America’s best or worst presidents, only 46 percent said he was one of the worst.

On President-elect Joe Biden, 63 percent said Biden won the 2020 election “fair and square,” with 23 percent saying Biden was “helped across the finish line” and 15 percent saying they didn’t know enough to answer.

On that question, age was a significant factor. Only 52 percent of those in the 5064 age group believed Biden won fairly, while 66 percent of those age 35-49 and 64 percent of younger adults believed it was a fair win.

The poll also found that 52 percent of county residents support the impeachment and removal of Trump from office, and 48 percent opposed it. But 33 percent said Trump should resign, with 67 percent opposed to that option.

Trump was blamed by 40 percent of those polled for having “everything” to do with causing the violence at the Capitol and 32 percent said he had “something” to do with it. However 19 percent said he had “nothing” to do with it, and 9 percent were unsure.

Regarding the people who stormed the Capitol last week, 64 percent of survey respondents said they are “domestic terrorists,” 6 percent said they are “patriots,” 20 percent said they are “somewhere in between,” and 9 percent were unsure.

There was a large gender difference on this question, with men choosing the “patriots” response three times as often as women.

The poll asked whether Trump should be charged with crimes after he leaves office. About 41 percent said he should be charged, and 59 percent opposed it.

On California governor, Faulconer has said he may challenge Newsom when he is up for re-election in 2022. Faulconer might also be on the ballot later this year in a recall election against Newsom if supporters gather enough valid signatures.

Faulconer, a Republican, got support from 77 percent of poll respondents who are Republican. Newsom, a Democrat, got support from 59 percent of poll respondents who are Democrats.

On the pandemic, the more contagious strains of the virus that emerged recently have increased the share of people who are very worried about COVID-19 from 51 percent to 60 percent, the survey shows.

The survey also asked about people working at home. It found that 42 percent are working from home because of the pandemic, with 57 percent of them saying their employer is encouraging them to continue working from home.