Biden has a growing distrust problem with the American People | Eastern NC Now

President Joe Biden is sinking in a trust deficit with Americans when it comes to COVID-19, a new poll showed Tuesday.

According to the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index, fewer than half now say they trust Biden, a 13 percentage point dive from his high water mark after his inauguration in January.

The survey showed 45% said they had "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of faith in Biden to provide accurate information; 53% said they did not have "very much" faith in the president or "none at all."

In December, 58% said they trusted Biden, the poll noted.

The numbers slumped across party lines, the survey found, with 81% of Democrats saying they trusted Biden, a decline of 11 points, while 42% of independents said the same, a drop of 17 points, and 11% of Republicans agreed, a dip of 10 points.

The survey suggested the drop came despite public support for Biden’s policy measures on COVID-19, with 60% saying they believed returning to pre-coronavirus life would be "a large or moderate risk," 78% saying they were "concerned" about the virus, and 55% saying they wanted their employers to require workers to be vaccinated.

"He won on COVID, he surfed the first six months on COVID, but he's being challenged by it now because there's not a clear resolution in sight," Cliff Young, president of Ipsos U.S. public affairs, said of Biden, Axios reported.

"Delta and other issues have really undermined the public's perception" of how much they can trust Biden's assurances on curbing the pandemic, he added.

"People have adapted. They have countermeasures they trust. But we're still in the middle of it. It hasn't gone away. You have to wear masks everywhere. It's doable, but it makes you frustrated."

The numbers slide also comes after revisions by health officials and members of the Biden administration to statements and policy guidelines related to COVID. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky advised numerous times over the summer that vaccinated Americans did not need to wear face masks, only for her agency to change its guidance in late July to suggest the opposite, Mediaite noted.

The survey’s margin of error was 3.2 percentage points.