Navigating Coronavirus — October 16

As President Trump and Republicans continue to hold up additional coronavirus relief, today’s email has *new* Navigator polling on the relief negotiations, the state of the economy, and more — and we take a deep dive into the scale of the pandemic-induced economic crisis and how Republicans’ failure to act is hurting Americans.

Read on for today’s Navigating Coronavirus…

It’s been 228 days since President Trump said we’d soon have zero cases in the U.S. We now have more than 8.2 million cases and 222,000 deaths in the U.S., and Trump and 38 other contacts have been diagnosed after a super spreader event at the White House.

ECONOMIC CRISIS IN CONTEXT

Yesterday, we learned that another 1.3 million Americans filed new unemployment claims last week as Trump’s economy continues to struggle and Trump and his allies continue blocking additional support.

• More than 25 million Americans are now receiving unemployment benefits and have seen their income cut by Trump and his allies at a time when there are millions more workers looking for a job than there are open positions.
• A new analysis shows that the true unemployment rate is a shocking 26.1%. And according to this analysis, if you measure unemployed workers as anybody over 16 years old who isn’t earning a living wage, the rate rises to 54.6% and is nearly 60% for Black Americans.

People across the country are feeling the impact of Trump’s bungled COVID-19 response and failed economic policies, and they are correctly pointing the finger at him and his allies.

• Who Trump is looking out for: “As Virus Spread, Reports of Trump Administration’s Private Briefings Fueled Sell-Off”

**NEW** NAVIGATOR POLLING

POLLING DECK >> HERE

FULL TOPLINES >> HERE

• **MAJOR FINDING** Americans overwhelmingly support a $2.4 trillion coronavirus relief package, and blame Trump for a deal collapsing. Support for providing additional economic relief has increased by 11 points since early June (from 59% to 70%).
• TOP CONCERNS >> Nearly 6 in 10 Americans worry that, because Trump halted economic relief negotiations, small businesses will close, Americans won’t get much needed rent relief, and state and local governments won’t be able to fund UI, nutritional assistance, and programs for first responders.
• REMINDER: Nearly 60% of the small businesses that closed due to the pandemic remain shuttered due to Trump’s bungled response.

• The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic is hitting Americans hard as they worry the economy is getting worse. Nearly half of Americans feel uneasy about their personal financial situation, and more than a third are worried about how they will pay the bills next month.
• Trump’s economy: “8 Million Have Slipped Into Poverty Since May as Federal Aid Has Dried Up”

• President Trump likes to talk about how great things are going for Wall Street, but the stock market is not the economy.
• FOR EXAMPLE >> AP: “Stocks are soaring, and most Black people are missing out”
• What are Americans worried about? Those who are currently struggling not getting the government assistance they need.
• BE SMART >> There is absolutely no reason for Trump and his allies to be blocking critically-needed COVID-19 response legislation. House Democrats passed their robust recovery package in May and Trump and his allies have done nothing since then but obstruct, delay, and pretend that a recovery was just around the corner. The bottom line: Trump and his allies have failed to help workers, families, and the economy — and people across the country are seeing that very clearly.

• Throughout the pandemic, Trump’s approval on handling the economy has remained split, but he receives much lower approval ratings on his handling of the economic recovery from the pandemic. Among independents his approval is underwater by 15 points, including more than one-third who strongly disapprove.

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Navigating Coronavirus is a joint project of Governing for Impact, Groundwork Collaborative, The Hub Project, and Navigator Research.

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