Poll: 7 in 10 Americans say the economy is in bad shape, divided on who is to blame

About 7 in 10 Americans say the nation’s economy is in bad shape, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

According to the new poll, a majority of Americans do not blame President Joe Biden for high gasoline prices, but they hold his economic leadership in low regard as inflation continues to ravage their savings and spending power.

According to the poll, less than half of surveyed Americans view the jump in gas prices as Biden’s fault. Associated Press reported that this is a “reflection of how the [United States] is processing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting increase in oil costs.”

The Associated Press continued by saying that “the polls hint at a paradox in which the public views Biden as being in power without necessarily being in control. [Biden’s] hopes for a lasting economic renaissance have faded as Americans cope with higher food and energy costs. And the promise of a country no longer under the pandemic’s sway has been supplanted by the uncertainty of war in Europe.”

According to the poll, 65% of Americans currently disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy. 96% of Republicans and 36% of Democrats surveyed disapprove, and the overall number of people saying they disapprove is up from 57% in December and from 47% in July of 2021.

Overwhelmingly, the Americans surveyed were worried about the 40-year-high rates of inflation affecting the rising costs of living.

68% of people surveyed said they were “very concerned” about the rapidly rising cost of gasoline, while 59% said they were the same degree of worried about the rising cost of groceries.

Adam Newago, a 53-year-old truck driver from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, said, “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Newago said that he sees inflation as spiraling out of control as the rising cost of fuel spreads to other parts of the economy, affecting prices across the board for everyone, everywhere.

48% of Americans surveyed in the new poll think that the Biden administration’s policies are hurting the economy while 24% believe that the administration’s policies are helping; 28% of those surveyed think the administration’s policies haven’t made much of a difference.

80% of Democrats say that high gas prices are outside Biden’s control, while 79% of Republicans are specifically blaming his policies for rising costs and limiting energy production.

Generally, there is consensus among Republicans that Biden’s policies are hurting the American economy while Democrats are split between thinking the administration is either helping the economy or not making a difference.