(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump gets passing marks for his handling of the coronavirus crisis, but the nation’s governors and public health officials get the highest grades.
A Monmouth University Poll released Monday shows 50% of Americans say Trump has done a good job handling the outbreak, compared with 45% saying he’s done a poor job. Those numbers largely fall along partisan lines.
But the partisanship breaks down as Americans rate their governors: 76% of Democrats, 73% of Republicans and 67% of independents say their governor has done a good job fighting the virus. Pollster Patrick Murray said governors “seem to be emerging as the most trusted official voice in this crisis across the board.”
Federal health agencies got good marks from 65% of respondents, while the media got 45% and Congress 42%.
Rhode Island Postpones Primary to June 2 (3:02 p.m.)
The June 2 presidential primary just got a little more crowded.
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced Monday that the state will postpone its April 28 primary to June 2 amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
It will join Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, and possibly Ohio, all of which postponed primaries to that date.
Already, the District of Columbia, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota had planned to hold primaries on June 2.
After initially resisting the idea, Raimondo decided to postpone the election when Rhode Island’s elections board said it would need more time to switch its focus to mail-in ballots.
Biden Mixes Up Governor, Jazz Saxophonist (12:08 p.m.)
Joe Biden praised the Republican governor of Massachusetts on Monday, or was it the late jazz saxophonist?
In an online address on the coronavirus pandemic, Biden singled out Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York and Republican Governors Larry Hogan of Maryland and “Charlie Parker” of Massachusetts for praise.
The Bay State’s governor, of course, is Charlie Baker, while Parker is the saxophonist who pioneered bebop in the 1940s.
The mistake was quickly highlighted by Biden’s critics on social media. But otherwise, Monday’s livestream went off smoothly, not marred by the technical problems of some previous ones. In recent days, Biden has skipped public appearances and statements while setting up his home in Wilmington, Delaware, with equipment to handle livestreams and broadcast interviews.
Democrats Abroad Overwhelmingly Favor Sanders (10:29 a.m.)
Bernie Sanders’s brand of progressive politics plays better with Americans living overseas than it does at home.
Democrats Abroad have awarded nine delegates to Sanders and four to national front-runner Joe Biden. The delegates close Biden’s lead to 300 delegates, according to the latest Associated Press tally.
Sanders won the raw vote with 57.9% to Biden’s 22.7%. They were the only candidates to pass the 15% threshold to receive delegates.
Democrats Abroad, which acts as the equivalent of a state delegation to the Democratic National Convention, began voting on Super Tuesday, March 3. As coronavirus worries grew across the world, the organization shifted from regional voting centers to remote voting by emailed, faxed or mailed-in ballots.
Julia Bryan, the organization’s global chair, said participation grew by 15% over 2016. -- Gregory Korte
(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, also sought the Democratic presidential nomination. He endorsed Joe Biden on March 4.)
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