Number of Republicans Who Say They’re Socializing Amid Pandemic Rises Even as More Democrats Stay Home: Survey

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The number of Republicans who say they’re leaving the house to socialize has a hit a new high since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to new survey data, even as more Democrats are opting to stay home.

The number who said they were “continuing to socialize,” even if they were doing so at a diminished level, increased from 36 percent in the final days of June to 38 percent during the first week of July, according to the Morning Consult survey conducted July 1-4.

The share of Democrats who said they were staying home declined from 18 percent to 15 percent during the same period. The figure hit a high of 21 percent on June 21 after weeks of nationwide protests related to police brutality, nearly doubling from 12 percent the day of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.

Despite the number of Republicans who said they felt comfortable leaving the house, the number who said they “strongly approved” of President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic ticked down to 48 percent, a new low since Morning Consult began asking the question in April. Another 30 percent said they “somewhat” approved of his handling of the pandemic, while 18 percent said they somewhat or strongly disapproved.

Cases of Covid-19 were on the rise in 40 states the week the survey was conducted, especially in Florida and Texas, where new infections broke records on multiple days in June. The number of cases nationally fell just shy of 3 million as of July 7, according to John Hopkins University.