U.S. Is 'Out of Control' Under Trump, 75 Percent of Americans Think: Poll

BY JAMES WALKER ON 7/3/20

Three quarters of Americans believe the country is "out of control" amid a spike in new coronavirus cases and widespread unemployment, new polling data shows.

A survey published by Yahoo! News and YouGov on Thursday found that 75 percent of Americans believed their country was out of control, compared to just 14 percent who felt it was under control.

A further 11 percent of all polled U.S. adults said they were "not sure" whether the country was "out of" or under control.


Older voters were more likely to say the U.S. was "out of control" amid the ongoing pandemic. Eighty-one percent of those aged 65 and older told pollsters the country was in a fiasco, while 68 percent of those aged 30 to 44 felt the same way.

Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Spirit of America Showcase in the Entrance Hall of the White House July 02, 2020 in Washington, DC.CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

YouGov pollsters also found that opinion was slightly divided along partisan lines, with 82 percent of Democrats saying the country was out of control, compared to a little under two thirds of Republicans.


Eighty-one percent of independents further said America was out of control, while just 12 percent of the polled swing voters felt the U.S. was under control.

The downbeat assessments on the country's standing came as almost two thirds of U.S. adults (65 percent) said they believed the coronavirus pandemic was getting worse.



By comparison, just 16 percent of polled Americans felt the COVID-19 pandemic was getting better in the U.S. as Florida, Texas and Arizona reported influxes of new cases this week.

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Respondents took a similar view on the economy, with more than six in ten (61 percent) believing it was getting worse, despite an official report recording the return of 4.8 million jobs last month.

A further 21 percent told pollsters they felt the economy was improving, while 18 percent felt there had been no change on that front.

Asked who they would vote for in the presidential election as views on the economy and public health soured, 45 percent told pollsters they would be backing Biden, while 40 percent opted for President Donald Trump.

Although the overall head-to-head poll numbers did not favor Trump, his rating among independent voters looked good for his campaign. Thirty-eight percent of the swing voters said they would back the president in November, putting him three points ahead of Biden among the demographic.

A combined 13 percent of U.S. adults said they would be voting for a third party candidate, or had not yet decided.

The new poll from Yahoo! News and YouGov surveyed more than 1,500 U.S. adults between June 29 and July 1. Its margin of error stands at 3.2 percentage points.