WASHINGTON: The image of the United States in other wealthy democracies has plunged to all-time lows over its response to the coronavirus, with widespread doubts about President Donald Trump's leadership, a survey said Tuesday. A 13-nation survey by the Pew Research Centre found that only one country - South Korea - still had mostly favourable views of the United States, and even there it was only 59 percent.
In historic US ally Britain, 41 percent said they had a positive view of the United States, the lowest since the centre started polling two decades ago. Favourability toward the US slumped to 31 percent in France and 26 percent in Germany, around the same levels recorded at the time of the Iraq invasion in 2003.
"Part of the decline over the past year is linked to how the US had handled the coronavirus pandemic," the study said. Only 15 percent of the people surveyed around the world thought the United States - which has suffered the highest Covid-19 death toll at nearly 200,000 - has done a good job handling the pandemic.
By contrast, most people surveyed gave high marks to the World Health Organization - frequently blamed by the Trump administration - as well as their own countries. Pew surveyed 13,273 adults from June 10 to August 3, a period also marked by mass protests in the United States against racial injustice.
Trump, who is up for re-election on November 3, received low marks in all nations in the survey, which did not include the United States. His highest rating was in Japan, where still just 25 percent said they had confidence in his decision-making. The lowest was in Belgium at nine percent.
By contrast, majorities trusted German Chancelor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron while by slim margins more people also trusted Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping than Trump. The survey, however, found an ideological gap, with supporters of right-wing populist parties more likely to trust Trump. In Spain, 45 percent of backers of the Vox party said they had confidence in Trump, compared with just seven percent among Spaniards who do not support Vox.
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