Colorado Politics: RNC Defends Trump in Colorado, But Still Lagging Behind

Joey Bunch, writer and editor at Colorado Politics, reports on the Republican National Committee (RNC) blitz to defend President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus in the states. The media outreach is responding to polls showing Trump and the administration seen as ill-managing the early outbreak and too quick to end the restrictions for the economy.

My contribution was to observe that there is no evidence Trump has improved his Colorado position since his 2016 defeat by Hillary Clinton and Republican losses in general in 2018. The RNC’s primary argument was that Democrats were undermining national unity by playing the “blame game.”

No recent polls are available, but a large national online poll conducted the end of February by Morning Consult for Politico showed Trump with a negative 13 percent approval in Colorado (42% to 55% disapproval, on the low side among the states). The current national polling average for Trump is 45 percent to 46 percent. I stated:

"He has his base maybe by 90%," said pollster Floyd Ciruli, director of the Crossley Center on Public Opinion Research at the University of Denver. "But the base and 40% of unaffiliated (voters) is not nearly enough in Colorado."

President Trump holding a press briefing | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images