Poll: Most against big Trump rallies
WASHINGTON – It’s the most stark stylistic difference between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden: The incumbent has surrounded himself with thousands of supporters at dozens of rallies while the Democratic challenger is keeping his distance.
But as Trump and Biden embrace strikingly different approaches to campaigning during the coronavirus pandemic, a new USA Today/suffolk University poll found that nearly two-thirds of likely voters prefer Biden’s low-key strategy to Trump’s raucous fanfare.
Nearly six in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s decision to continue to hold large rallies during the pandemic, according to the poll, and nearly 64% approve of Biden’s decision to jettison big events in favor of much smaller gatherings.
Trump has held more than two dozen rallies since recovering from his own bout with COVID-19 this month – and he is expected to hold at least a dozen more before Tuesday’s election. The rallies are held outdoors, usually at airports, and supporters are packed in tight. Although many rallygoers wear masks, some do not and Trump does not wear one.
Biden has rarely gathered more than a few dozen supporters at a time, often
enforcing recommended distancing with white, spray-painted circles for each participant. His campaign has insisted participants get tested before they show up and wear masks.
Eager to project the idea the nation has “turned the corner” on the pandemic, despite a recent surge in cases and hospitalizations, Trump has repeatedly mocked Biden’s events, joked about the paltry attendance and ridiculed the Democrat for wearing a mask.
Trump tweeted a striking video on
Wednesday showing Marine One hovering over a crowded rally compared with a masked Biden walking into a sparsely populated gathering of people who sat on chairs within white circles around them.
“He’s got like five circles. And he goes there, and people are standing,” Trump said during a rally this month in Georgia. “Number one, there’s no people there and the few people that are there are like what, 50 yards away.”
The message is clear. Whether it’s resonating with voters is not.
Biden held a steady eight-point lead over Trump in the nationwide poll, 52%44%, which was taken after the final presidential debate last week. That gap reflects little change since the survey was taken at Labor Day, the unofficial start of the fall campaign season, when the former vice president led by seven points, 50%-43%.
Trump and his aides have said the rallies are a chance for his supporters to exercise their right to free speech and they have compared the gatherings to Black Lives Matters protests that unfolded in many cities this summer.
“Americans have the right to gather under the First Amendment to hear from the president of the United States, and we take strong precautions for our campaign events,” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Courtney Parella, pointing to the temperature checks required and the masks and hand sanitizer that are offered.
The fault lines around the different approaches the campaigns have taken to the pandemic are even more stark when broken down by party. Ninety-five percent of Democrats said they disapprove of Trump’s rallies; that compares with 73% of Republicans who said they support the approach. Younger voters were more likely to disapprove of Trump’s rallies, the poll showed, though it is older Americans who are most vulnerable to the virus.