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| © Alex Edelman/AFP/Getty Images President Donald Trump wears a mask while visiting Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on July 11, 2020. |
Analysis by Harry Enten, CNN
This weekend, President Donald Trump allowed the White House press corps to see him wearing a face mask for the first time. Trump, of course, has been hesitant to wear a mask, and he has retweeted criticism of former Vice President Joe Biden for doing so.
The importance of Trump wearing a mask cannot be understated. Perhaps by doing so, the President can help close an unnecessary partisan gap on how Americans view them and the coronavirus pandemic in general.
The latest Axios/Ipsos poll bears out well how there really is a Democratic and Republican America when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus.
Overall, 62% of Americans say they wear a mask at all times when they leave the home. This is the highest percentage ever recorded by Axios/Ipsos since they started asking this question in April.
Digging down further, you see that 78% of Democrats say they wear a mask at all times. Just 45% of Republican answered the same way. This is a 33-point partisan gap.
While this isn't the type of partisan difference you'd see on a question asking about Biden or Trump, it's still quite big. It makes you wonder whether such a gap has been apparent from the start, or whether it came about because Democratic politicians were more pro-mask than Trump.
There's a good case the partisan gap came about because of the actions of politicians.
When Axios/Ipsos first put this question to Americans in early April, the partisan gap on masks was significantly smaller. Back then, 38% of Democrats said they were wearing them at all times when leaving the home. This compares to 24% of Republicans, which makes for only a 14-point partisan difference.
If you go back even further, there were no partisan differences on masks in February. This was when coronavirus was not a top news story in America. Asking a slightly different question, the Kaiser Family Foundation discovered that 8% of Democrats and 6% of Republicans said they had worn or bought a mask because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The widening partisan gap on masks mirrors the widening partisanship gap on coronavirus overall.
Democrats and Republicans were about equally worried in February about a coronavirus outbreak. About 26% of Democrats said they were very concerned compared to 24% of Republicans in that Kaiser poll. That's what you'd expect given that this is a virus, not something with baked-in partisan priors like taxes.
But today, Democrats and Republicans are in different worlds. According to Axios/Ipsos, 80% of Democrats are now extremely or very concerned about the coronavirus pandemic. Among Republicans, it's just 41%.
Now, it would be easy to say that this gap has developed simply because Democratic areas have struggled with the virus more than Republican areas. Early on in the pandemic, that was certainly the case. In late March, counties that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 had three times as many cases per 1,000,000 residents as those that voted for Trump, per an analysis by economist Jed Katko. More recently, however, Democratic and Republican counties have had about as many new cases.
As I've noted previously, it's difficult to know exactly why some counties and states are seeing more cases now than previously. There are a lot of confounding variables. We do know, though, that mask wearing does prevent the spread of coronavirus and there was a correlation between which states were more likely to wear masks and where the virus was spreading the fastest.
Indeed, the actions of politicians can be quite important. Compare the positive tests over the last week to the same week last month. Most states saw an increase in positive tests (in part because there have been more tests administered). Yet, the average state requiring people to wear masks when out in public by June 1 saw an increase of about 10% as large as the states where there was no mask rule in effect.
But no matter what state you live, the partisan gap in mask wearing is apparent.
Consider New York, which has suffered the most devastation from the virus and where mask usage is among the highest in the country.
A recent NBC 4 New York/Marist College poll found that 74% of New York state residents said they always wear a mask when they leave home. Democrats, though, are more likely to wear a mask at 82% to Republicans' 61%. This 21 point difference is nearly three times as large as the regional differences within the state (78% in New York City compared to 70% upstate).
Big differences between Democrats and Republicans within a state is not uncommon. It's the norm. There's a nearly 30-point gap in Texas, for example.
This partisan breakdown is probably why the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield said on Tuesday that he needs Trump "to set the example" when it comes to mask wearing. That way, the country might be able to close the gap.
Read more at CNN
This weekend, President Donald Trump allowed the White House press corps to see him wearing a face mask for the first time. Trump, of course, has been hesitant to wear a mask, and he has retweeted criticism of former Vice President Joe Biden for doing so.
The importance of Trump wearing a mask cannot be understated. Perhaps by doing so, the President can help close an unnecessary partisan gap on how Americans view them and the coronavirus pandemic in general.
The latest Axios/Ipsos poll bears out well how there really is a Democratic and Republican America when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus.
Overall, 62% of Americans say they wear a mask at all times when they leave the home. This is the highest percentage ever recorded by Axios/Ipsos since they started asking this question in April.
Digging down further, you see that 78% of Democrats say they wear a mask at all times. Just 45% of Republican answered the same way. This is a 33-point partisan gap.
While this isn't the type of partisan difference you'd see on a question asking about Biden or Trump, it's still quite big. It makes you wonder whether such a gap has been apparent from the start, or whether it came about because Democratic politicians were more pro-mask than Trump.
There's a good case the partisan gap came about because of the actions of politicians.
When Axios/Ipsos first put this question to Americans in early April, the partisan gap on masks was significantly smaller. Back then, 38% of Democrats said they were wearing them at all times when leaving the home. This compares to 24% of Republicans, which makes for only a 14-point partisan difference.
If you go back even further, there were no partisan differences on masks in February. This was when coronavirus was not a top news story in America. Asking a slightly different question, the Kaiser Family Foundation discovered that 8% of Democrats and 6% of Republicans said they had worn or bought a mask because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The widening partisan gap on masks mirrors the widening partisanship gap on coronavirus overall.
Democrats and Republicans were about equally worried in February about a coronavirus outbreak. About 26% of Democrats said they were very concerned compared to 24% of Republicans in that Kaiser poll. That's what you'd expect given that this is a virus, not something with baked-in partisan priors like taxes.
But today, Democrats and Republicans are in different worlds. According to Axios/Ipsos, 80% of Democrats are now extremely or very concerned about the coronavirus pandemic. Among Republicans, it's just 41%.
Now, it would be easy to say that this gap has developed simply because Democratic areas have struggled with the virus more than Republican areas. Early on in the pandemic, that was certainly the case. In late March, counties that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 had three times as many cases per 1,000,000 residents as those that voted for Trump, per an analysis by economist Jed Katko. More recently, however, Democratic and Republican counties have had about as many new cases.
As I've noted previously, it's difficult to know exactly why some counties and states are seeing more cases now than previously. There are a lot of confounding variables. We do know, though, that mask wearing does prevent the spread of coronavirus and there was a correlation between which states were more likely to wear masks and where the virus was spreading the fastest.
Indeed, the actions of politicians can be quite important. Compare the positive tests over the last week to the same week last month. Most states saw an increase in positive tests (in part because there have been more tests administered). Yet, the average state requiring people to wear masks when out in public by June 1 saw an increase of about 10% as large as the states where there was no mask rule in effect.
But no matter what state you live, the partisan gap in mask wearing is apparent.
Consider New York, which has suffered the most devastation from the virus and where mask usage is among the highest in the country.
A recent NBC 4 New York/Marist College poll found that 74% of New York state residents said they always wear a mask when they leave home. Democrats, though, are more likely to wear a mask at 82% to Republicans' 61%. This 21 point difference is nearly three times as large as the regional differences within the state (78% in New York City compared to 70% upstate).
Big differences between Democrats and Republicans within a state is not uncommon. It's the norm. There's a nearly 30-point gap in Texas, for example.
This partisan breakdown is probably why the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield said on Tuesday that he needs Trump "to set the example" when it comes to mask wearing. That way, the country might be able to close the gap.
Read more at CNN
