Two in Three Americans Disapprove of Joe Biden’s Handling of Inflation

Joe Biden is tackling inflation, a new poll suggests.

The ABC/Ipsos poll, which surveyed 524 adults on December 10 and 11, found Biden’s job approval rating lagging on a number of major issues, including gun violence, crime and the economic recovery.

The survey found more than two-thirds of respondents—69 percent—disapprove of how Biden is handling inflation, which has risen to the highest level in almost 40 years. Only 28 percent of respondents approved of how Biden is handling the issue.

Unsurprisingly, an overwhelming majority of Republicans (94 percent) disapprove of Biden’s handling of inflation. But the survey also revealed that only a slim majority of Democrats (54 percent) approve.

The poll also found that more than half (57 percent) of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economic recovery, while 41 percent approve.

Biden is doing slightly better on the issue of the coronavirus pandemic. The survey found more respondents approved rather than disapproved of Biden’s handling of the pandemic—53 percent to 45 percent—though his approval rating on the issue is at its lowest point in ABC/Ipsos polling since he took office.

It comes as recent polls show high prices and inflation as well as the pandemic are the biggest worries for most Americans.

Earlier this week, a Monmouth University poll suggested 3 in 10 voters name everyday bills or inflation as the biggest concern facing their family at the moment.

And regardless of which issue they named as their top concern, almost half (46 percent) said the federal government’s actions were to blame.

“Concerns about inflation have taken center stage in discussions around America’s kitchen tables,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement. “And, as one would expect, many are placing the blame squarely on Washington.”

Biden has said his Build Back Better legislation, which passed the House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate, will help ease the impact of inflation.

“If you look at what most people are saying—most of the economists are saying: This Build Back Better bill is not going to increase inflation; it’ll diminish inflation,” he said on Friday.

“But that’s hard for people to think about right now because inflation is up, and there’s a direct correlation in most people’s mind: ‘Well, why is there inflation?’ ‘Well, government is spending money.’ Well, that’s not the reason for the inflation.”

Asked about the bill while appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Friday evening, Biden said: “What’s in it is the ability for working class and middle class people to have the cost of living cut significantly,” including on child care.

The sweeping social safety net package is broadly popular, but Biden’s overall approval rating has plummeted to about 43 percent, according to poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight.

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Original Article: Two in Three Americans Disapprove of Joe Biden’s Handling of Inflation—Poll (msn.com)