The government’s halting response to the coronavirus pandemic represents the culmination of chronic structural weaknesses, years of underinvestment and political rhetoric that has undermined the public trust — conditions compounded by President Trump’s open hostility to a federal bureaucracy that has been called upon to manage the crisis. …
Public trust in government has declined sharply for the past half century. In the early 1960s, more than 7 in 10 Americans said they trusted government to do the right thing all or most of the time. A year ago, a Pew Research survey found that just 17 percent of Americans expressed that view. CONT.
Dan Balz, Washington Post
The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack