A new Fox News poll found that a majority of voters support wearing face masks and think political rallies are a bad idea
- A new Fox News poll published Friday found that 59% of respondents think political rallies are a bad idea amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- 80% of respondents have a favorable view of wearing face masks, which won't be required at President Trump's Saturday rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
- Concerns around the coronavirus spreading varied across political parties, with 70% of Democrats and 35% of Republicans feeling "very concerned."
A new Fox News poll published Friday found that registered voters think large political rallies are a bad idea, and most voters have a favorable view of face masks.
A majority of respondents don't support large political rallies amid the coronavirus pandemic, with 59% saying they're a bad idea. 23% of respondents said rallies were a good idea, and 16% said it depends on the situation.
The poll also found that 80% of respondents have a favorable view of wearing face masks, including 89% of Democrats and 68% of Republicans. The poll was released on the eve of President Trump's much-disputed rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday.
Read more: Trump's upcoming campaign rally could be the US's next coronavirus superspreading hot spot
The rally, his first since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, had originally been planned for Juneteenth but was moved back one day after widespread criticism. Attendees are required to sign a waiver and "assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19" upon registration for the event, hosted indoors at the Bank of Oklahoma Center.
In an interview with Axios released on Friday night, Trump said that masks at the event wouldn't be mandatory, describing them as "a double-edged sword."
When asked if he recommended people wear them at the event, Trump replied: "I recommend people do what they want."
Concerns of coronavirus spread and reopening were split across party lines
Concerns around the spread of the coronavirus vary based on political party, according to the poll.
70% of Democrats and 53% of independents are very concerned about coronavirus spreading. Only 35% of Republicans feel the same.
And while 62% of Democrats feel "very" concerned about the dangers of reopening too quickly, 51% of Republicans are "very" concerned about the economic impact of reopening too slowly.
Overall, respondents are also split with regards to the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. 38% believe that quarantines and lockdowns were "about right," and 38% believe the government's response "didn't go far enough." 19% think it went too far.
The poll was conducted between June 13th and 16th by the Democratic organization Beacon Research and the Republican research team Shaw & Company. Researchers conducted phone interviews with 1,343 randomly chosen registered voters across the US. The poll reported a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for all registered voters.