A survey conducted jointly for NBC News and the Wall Street Journal between May 28 and June 2 showed that eight out of 10 respondents think the United States is spiraling out of control.
The survey was conducted among 1,000 people with a margin of error of +3.10%.
59% of respondents said they were more concerned about the murder of George Floyd and the police action during the ongoing protests that followed his death than about the protests themselves and the violent demonstrations that have sometimes erupted. On the other hand, 27% said they were concerned about the protests.
Of the 59% concerned about the police action and Floyd’s death, 54% are white, 65% are Latino and 78% are African-American. Also, 81% have a preference for the Democratic Party, 59% are independents, and 29% have sympathy for the Republican Party.
An average of 53% of those interviewed for this survey disapprove of Donald Trump’s job as president, compared to 45% who approve. Among those who disagree with Trump’s administration, 47% strongly disapprove, and among those who validate it, 31% strongly do so.
Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies conducted the survey.
All respondents to the poll said they are registered to vote. The next U.S. presidential election is scheduled for November.
To the question, “if the election for president were held today, and Donald Trump was the Republican candidate and Joe Biden was the Democratic candidate, who would you vote for? 49% responded that they would vote for Biden and 42% for Trump.
NBC News recalls that the numbers are similar to those of April.
The network spoke for this report with the two responsible for the survey, Jeff Horwit, a Democratic pollster from Hart Research Associates and Bill McInturff, a Republican from Public Opinion Strategies.
Horwitt said: “Against Biden, going back to last July, here are Trump’s numbers — 42 percent, 41 percent, 44 percent, 44 percent, 43 percent, 42 percent and again 42 percent. The 45th president has yet to get to 45 percent, let alone closer than a 6-point deficit against the former vice president.
McInturff said it is “striking” that the approval numbers for Trump “haven’t changed, given the extraordinary events of the last 90 days.” “Those are remarkable findings that speak to the power of our partisan silos,” he argued.
The poll shows that the majority of the respondents who would vote for Biden in the election are people from diverse backgrounds: 82% of African Americans, 57% of Latinos and 56% of women prefer Biden. Voters between the ages of 18-34 (54%) and 65+ (51%), white college degrees (52%), and independents (45%) are also more likely to vote for Biden.
Those who would vote for Trump are mostly white (49%), male (50%), and white with no college degrees (55%).
Additionally, 50% of respondents in this survey believe that Biden would better address the concerns of the Latino community and 49% feel the same about the African-American community. 26% and 30% respectively think the same about Trump.
Biden is also ahead of the pack in considerations of his potential to address women’s concerns (46% vs. 26% for Trump), health care (49% vs. 34%), coronavirus (48% vs. 37%), and his potential ability to bring the United States together (51% vs. 26%).
46% of respondents said that the current economic situation is “poor”. NBC News emphasizes that this is the highest number for the same question since September 2012. 17% of respondents said the economy is “good”; 31% said it is “only fair” and 5% said it is “excellent.”
On the coronavirus pandemic, a combined 63% said they are very worried or are somewhat concerned that someone close to them in their family would get the virus. That is 10 points less than in April. However, 54% think it will take a year or more for the coronavirus to go away and for the economy to recover.
Precisely on economic issues, respondents say they have more confidence in Trump’s handling of the situation than Biden’s. Forty-eight percent believe that the current president would be better at cutting the unemployment rate and at handling the economy in general, compared to 35% and 37% respectively who think the same about Biden.