National

Data: Axios/Ipsos poll; Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios

Most Americans think long COVID is a disability and approve of giving stronger support to people who have it, including workplace protections and free medical care, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll.

And they overwhelmingly favor requiring health insurance companies to cover treatment for it.

Why it matters: There are some partisan differences, but overall the poll suggests that Americans have sympathy for people battling long COVID and that they'd support moves to strengthen the safety net for them.

By the numbers: Seven out of 10 respondents said they'd support identifying people with long COVID as having a disability under the law and giving people workplace protections for it, while 67% said they'd support giving long COVID patients access to medical services and care for free.

Free medical care doesn't win majority support across the board. Just 47% of Republicans supported it, compared to 86% of Democrats and 67% of independents.

But workplace protections for people with long COVID won at least narrow majority support regardless of party, with 87% of Democrats, 56% of Republicans and 69% of independents favoring the idea.

The most popular policy by far: nine out 10 favored requiring health insurance companies to cover treatment for people with long COVID, including 97% of Democrats, 82% of Republicans and 90% of independents.

Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Poll was conducted April 8-11 by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,043 general population adults age 18 or older.

The margin of sampling error is ±3.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults.

Axios-Ipsos poll: Americans support long COVID protections

The majority favors treating it as a disability and giving stronger support to people who have it.

Deep Dive - Long COVID

Coronavirus

Most Americans think long COVID is a disability and approve of giving stronger support to people who have it, including workplace protections and free medical care, according to an <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Axios-Ipsos poll" data-vars-click-url="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/axios-ipsos-coronavirus-index" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/axios-ipsos-coronavirus-index" target="_blank">Axios-Ipsos poll</a>.<ul><li>And they overwhelmingly favor requiring health insurance companies to cover treatment for it.</li></ul>

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Health

Data: General Social Survey; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals

Most Americans in recent polls think Roe v. Wade should be upheld but have no absolute position on abortion, saying it should either be mostly legal or mostly illegal.

The big picture: Years of polling have shown that Americans recognize gray areas in a way that you'd never hear about if you just listened to the politicians and the activists.

The closest thing to a consensus view: "It depends. It's not a simple yes or no answer," said Hannah Hartig, a research associate at Pew Research Center.

Between the lines: Here's what the polls really tell us — and what to remember as emotions rise over the likelihood that the Supreme Court is about to overturn Roe v. Wade.

1) Most Americans are in the middle. In Gallup polling going back to 1975, the most common view has been that abortion should be "legal only under certain circumstances" — not that it should be "legal under any circumstances" or "illegal in all circumstances."

How broad that middle is depends on the wording of the question and how many options are provided. With Gallup, 48% said it should be legal only under certain circumstances as of May 2021.

But in a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March 2022, 71% said abortion should be legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or legal or illegal with some exceptions.

"Most people kind of live in the gray zone," said Ipsos pollster and senior vice president Chris Jackson. 

2) But majorities still want to uphold Roe v. Wade. When asked about it specifically, 54% in a Washington Post/ABC News poll in April said Roe should be upheld, as did 63% in a Fox News poll April 28-May 1.

Both were conducted before Politico reported on the draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe.

In Gallup polling going back to 1989, majorities have opposed overturning Roe, and support for overturning it has rarely risen above a third of Americans.

3) It depends on the categories and the questions. As with many polls on other topics, pollsters have found different answers on abortion by combining different groups and wording the questions in different ways.

For example, the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List released a poll of battleground states this week that found that 49% held what it defined as a "pro-life" view: 36% said abortion should be "illegal except in the case of rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s life," and 13% said it "should always be illegal."

Pro-abortion rights groups, however, point to poll findings that suggest many people who are personally against abortion don't want the government to prevent others from getting one. They cite a Washington Post/ABC News question that found 75% agreed that the decision "should be left to the woman and her doctor," compared to 20% who said it should be regulated by law.

The bottom line is "who has power and control over these decisions," said Tresa Undem, a pollster who studies public opinion on abortion.

4) Democrats have moved more than Republicans. In a recent summary of abortion polling, Ipsos noted that there wasn't a lot of difference between Democrats and Republicans in the 1970s — but there's now about a 35-point difference in support for the right to obtain a legal abortion for any reason.

One reason: a big jump in Democratic support in the past few years, according to data from the General Social Survey.

"Democrats have become more liberal in the last decade or so, while Republicans have become a little more conservative," said Jackson.

5) People are weighing multiple questions. One example: nearly half of Americans — 48% — say there are cases where abortion is morally wrong but also should be legal, according to the Pew survey.

"For most people, this isn't just a legal question. It's also a moral question," said Besheer Mohamed, a senior researcher at Pew.

Another sign, according to the Pew survey: One in three agreed that life begins at conception, "so a fetus is a person with rights" — but also said the abortion decision "should belong solely to the pregnant woman."

And in the Fox News poll — the same one that found support for upholding Roe v. Wade — 54% said they'd favor banning abortion in their state after 15 weeks except in medical emergencies. That's a scenario similar to the Mississippi law in the Supreme Court case that could overturn Roe.

"There’s a black hole of what ifs," said Undem. "The clearest sense of opinion I get is that people tend to know every situation is different and want government out of these decisions. They are also reluctant to impose their personal beliefs on other people."

6) It's too early to know the election impact. Democrats have always warned that  overturning Roe would lead to a political earthquake — but while there are some midterm races that are being closely watched, the polling doesn't suggest a huge shift yet.

An Ipsos-Reuters poll taken right after the Supreme Court decision leaked found that two thirds of Americans would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supported a law legalizing abortion if Roe is overturned.

But it also found that only a third said they'd be angry if Roe were overturned — mainly Democrats (51%) rather than independents (25%) or Republicans (24%).

Jackson noted that the actual ruling hasn't come yet and it's still early for most Americans to know what they might do about it in the midterms, or where abortion would rank in comparison to other issues like inflation. "The big question is, is that [anger] sustained ... until the election?"

Bill to protect abortion rights fails to pass Senate

Red states race to enact new abortion restrictions

Polling shows America in the middle on abortion

Americans are conflicted and recognize gray areas, even as most want to protect Roe v. Wade.

Axios Explains: Abortion

Politics & Policy

Axios/Ipsos poll; Chart: Jacque Schrag/Axios

Most Americans are unaware of both goals of the Federal Reserve's dual mandate: stable prices and maximum employment, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll.

Why it matters: It's not surprising that public understanding of the Fed is so low. Most people aren't economists and have lives. But these are the Fed's biggest and most difficult jobs — and the poll shows how little Americans understand or appreciate them.

By the numbers: Fewer than 1 in 10 respondents in our poll knew the Fed is supposed to maximize employment, and only about a third knew it's expected to stabilize prices.

The biggest response in both cases was "don't know" — but about four in 10 answered, incorrectly, that it's false to say the Fed is tasked with maximizing employment.

The big picture: The Fed's approval ratings are low right now, with just 28% saying it does an excellent or good job — down from 38% in March 2021.

Despite the Fed's apolitical nature, its approval ratings are affected by the political divide in the United States — with 39% of Democrats saying it does an excellent or good job, compared to just 17% of Republicans and 27% of independents.

Between the lines: "Don't know" was the most common answer to most questions in our poll. But some people who gave definitive answers assume the Fed has more power than it actually does.

For example, 49% agreed with the statement that the Fed "is responsible for the boom/bust cycles of the U.S. economy."

Nearly a quarter of Americans — 24% — said the Fed controls mortgage rates. In reality, it affects mortgage rates only indirectly.

In other cases, they underestimated the Fed's independence, with 24% saying the president can order the Fed to address inflation. In reality, he can tell the Fed to do anything he wants, but he can't force them to act.

The one Fed action a (slight) majority knew about: 51% knew it increased interest rates in March.

Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Poll was conducted April 22–25 by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,015 general population adults age 18 or older.

Axios-Ipsos poll: The Fed knowledge gap

Most Americans are unaware of the Fed's dual mandate goals: stable prices and maximum employment.

Modern Money and Markets

Most Americans are unaware of both goals of the Federal Reserve&#x27;s dual mandate: stable prices and maximum employment, according to an <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Axios-Ipsos poll" data-vars-click-url="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/Axios-Federal-Reserve-2022" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/Axios-Federal-Reserve-2022" target="_blank">Axios-Ipsos poll</a>.Why it matters: It&#x27;s not surprising that public understanding of the Fed is so low. Most people aren&#x27;t economists and have lives. But these are the Fed&#x27;s biggest and most difficult jobs — and the poll shows how little Americans understand or appreciate them.

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Data: Axios/Ipsos poll; Note: Numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

Elon Musk is likely to find out that there's not a big market for his campaign for more free speech on Twitter, according to an Ipsos poll shared exclusively with Axios.

The big picture: Most Americans don't have a problem with Twitter or other social media companies removing posts that include misinformation, promote violence or pose a risk to the public, according to the poll.

They're more likely to oppose the removal of posts that promote political action or contain heated political rhetoric.

By the numbers: 73% of all respondents said they support removing posts that probably have false information, with just 20% saying they oppose removing those posts.

83% said they support removing posts that promote violence against particular individuals or groups.

79% said they support removing posts that pose a risk to the public.

Americans are more divided on taking down political posts. Just 47% support removing posts that promote political action, while 40% oppose it.

And 54% support removing posts that contain heated political rhetoric, with 36% opposed.

Between the lines: The poll also found that most Americans don't have strong opinions about what Musk's deal to buy Twitter will mean to the social media platform — unless they're extremely online.

Just 39% of all respondents said Musk will improve the quality of discussion on Twitter, while 22% said it would get worse.

But among self-described heavy Twitter users, 52% said his involvement would improve the quality of discussion, while 29% said it would get worse.

Likewise, 44% of all respondents said Musk would lead Twitter to allow greater free speech, while 12% said he'd allow less free speech. But among heavy Twitter users, 54% said his involvement would lead to greater free speech, while 21% said it would result in less free speech.

For non-users, by far the most common response was "don't know." (About four out of 10 said that about both questions.)

Methodology: This Ipsos Poll was conducted April 26-27 from a sample of 1,000 adults age 18 or older, randomly drawn from Ipsos’ online panel, partner online panel sources, and “river” sampling.

 The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points for all respondents. 

Exclusive poll: Americans support removing troubling tweets

A new poll shows most Americans support removing posts that include misinformation or promote violence.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk is likely to find out that there&#x27;s not a big market for his campaign for more <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="free speech on Twitter" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/musk-free-speech-twitter-unleash-272b2d7a-1691-43d4-a84e-9d23c5fbcbb5.html" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/musk-free-speech-twitter-unleash-272b2d7a-1691-43d4-a84e-9d23c5fbcbb5.html" target="_self">free speech on Twitter</a>, according to an <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Ipsos poll" data-vars-click-url="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/twitter-musk-poll" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/twitter-musk-poll" target="_blank">Ipsos poll</a> shared exclusively with Axios.The big picture: Most Americans don&#x27;t have a problem with Twitter or other social media companies removing posts that include misinformation, promote violence or pose a risk to the public, according to the poll.

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

President Biden set his sights at the State of the Union on Russian oligarchs, COVID fraudsters, social media platforms and even defund-the-police efforts — populist targets in a broader speech about national and global unity.

Why it matters: Biden's anti-Russia, pro-Ukraine passages inspired the only real partisan unity in the chamber.

"The U.S. Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of Russian oligarchs. We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains."

On Vladimir Putin, Biden ad-libbed: "He has no idea what’s coming."

🐦 Twitter erupted when Biden accidentally said Putin would never gain the hearts and souls of the "Iranian" people, instead of Ukrainian.

He announced that the Justice Department will appoint a chief prosecutor to go after pandemic fraud.

He bluntly distanced himself from the divisive defund-the-police movement: "We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police. The answer is to fund the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities."

With Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen in the audience, Biden framed social media as part of a larger mental health crisis, and urged Congress to "strengthen privacy protections" and ban targeted advertising to children.

Reality check: Privacy legislation has been stalled for years, notes Axios managing editor Scott Rosenberg.

What we were watching, from Axios' Sophia Cai, in the House chamber:

Fellow Supreme Court justices standing to applaud retiring Stephen Breyer — but careful to avoid politics by sitting when Biden mentioned his nominee to replace Breyer, Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) sitting with Republicans — but rising for most of the Democrats' applause lines.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) shouting “13 of them!" as Biden spoke, referring to Americans killed at Kabul airport during the frantic evacuation from Afghanistan. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) shouted: "Stay out of women’s sports!"

Biden's new targets

Joe Biden

President Biden set his sights at the State of the Union on Russian oligarchs, COVID fraudsters, social media platforms and even defund-the-police efforts — populist targets in a broader speech about national and global unity.Why it matters: Biden&#x27;s anti-Russia, pro-Ukraine passages inspired the only real partisan unity in the chamber.

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Polling shows America in the middle on abortion

Axios-Ipsos poll: Americans support long COVID protections

Axios-Ipsos poll: The Fed knowledge gap

Exclusive poll: Americans support removing troubling tweets

Biden's new targets