One in 6 Republicans worried about contracting the coronavirus plan to vote for Biden

In fact, according to the poll, about half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they’re worried that they or their families might contract the coronavirus — and a fifth of that group say they plan to vote for Biden. Looking only at registered Republican voters, the figure is 1 in 6.

Most Americans say that they are concerned about someone close to them contracting the virus. There’s a divide on party lines, with Republicans about as likely to say they aren’t concerned as to say that they are. Overall, though, nearly two-thirds of adults express concern about contracting the virus, with 3 in 10 saying they’re very worried about it.

Why? Probably in part because 85 percent of adults don’t think the virus is under control — a view government experts share. Although there’s again a split by party, even two-thirds of Republicans agree that the virus isn’t under control.

Those views color the perceptions of Trump’s handling of the pandemic. As with his job approval overall, most Americans disapprove of the job he is doing in controlling the virus, with Republicans constituting most of those who approve.

Partisanship can be difficult to extricate from views of Trump, but The Post-ABC poll shows that Republicans who are more worried about the virus and who are more likely to say it isn’t under control are also more likely to say that they disapprove of Trump’s handling of the pandemic.

Among all adults, 65 percent of those who say they’re not worried about someone close to them contracting the virus approve of Trump’s handling of the pandemic, compared with 28 percent of those who are worried about contracting it — a 37-point difference. Among those who say the virus isn’t under control, 31 percent approve of Trump’s handling compared to 92 percent of those who say it is under control.

If we limit those groups to Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, the gaps narrow — but still exist. Republicans and leaners who are worried about contracting the virus are 21 points less likely to approve of Trump’s handling of the pandemic. Republicans and leaners who say that the virus isn’t under control are 28 points less likely than those who say it is to approve of Trump’s handling of the pandemic.

The view of Trump’s job performance overall follows the same patterns. Republicans worried about contracting the virus are 20 points less likely to approve of Trump’s overall performance as president. Those who say the virus isn’t under control are 19 points less likely to approve of how Trump’s doing overall.

Again largely because of the correlation between views of the pandemic and partisanship, those who express more concern about the virus and the spread of the pandemic are more likely to support Biden’s candidacy.

But, again, there is also a gap just among Republicans. Trump wins Republicans overall by 79 points, 88 percent to 9 percent. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who are worried about contracting the virus, though, he leads by 55 points, with a fifth of that group’s support going to Biden. Among Republicans and leaners who don’t think the pandemic is under control, 16 percent plan to vote for Biden.

Overall, that same percentage of Republicans — 16 percent — who are registered to vote and are worried about someone close to them contracting the virus say they plan to support Biden. In 2016, about 4 percent of Republicans backed Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate, according to Pew Research Center analysis of the vote.

It has been obvious for some time that the scale of the pandemic is driving views of Trump and, by extension, national presidential polling. As is the case with the economy, broad political improvement for Trump depends on containing the virus. That more than 50,000 people per day are still contracting the virus on average suggests that such containment remains some distance away.