57% of Republicans think US Covid-19 death toll of 175,000 is ‘acceptable’, 68% of Democrats say it is underreported, poll finds

24 Aug, 2020 03:56 / Updated 4 years ago

A majority of Republicans – as opposed to only ten percent of Democrats – said the Covid-19 death toll in the US is at “acceptable” levels, according to a new poll, exposing a deep partisan rift over the handling of the pandemic.

As the US continues to lead the world with over 21 percent of total deaths and nearly a quarter of confirmed coronavirus cases (which could be partially attributed to record numbers of tests conducted), a new YouGov poll commissioned by CBS News shows the extremely polarized views of 2,226 surveyed registered voters.

Around 57 percent of Republicans said the death toll in the US attributed to Covid-19 – currently exceeding 175,000 – is “acceptable,” while 64 percent believe that the real number of deaths directly caused by the virus is “lower than what is being reported.”

At the same time, over two-thirds of Democrats believe that the death toll is being underreported, but even the officially acknowledged numbers are totally “unacceptable” for 90 percent of liberal respondents.

Facing daily attacks by critics for his alleged mishandling of the crisis, US President Donald Trump repeatedly denounced the media for focusing on bad statistics and emphasized that when it comes to death per capita, the country ranks better than the UK, Belgium, Peru, Spain, Italy, Chile, Sweden and Brazil.

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