Will America Blame Biden for Spiraling Inflation in Mid-Term Elections

Will America Blame Biden for Spiraling Inflation in Mid-Term Elections

Inflation is ranked the number one issue of concern for Americans -- no other issue is close. 

"There's no sign of relief, and the supply chain problems are getting even worse, the baby formula example is just the latest -- now the President is doing everything that he can including invoking the defense production act with baby formula. You can imagine other products that are also stuck in these supply chain issues and then that wind up with huge price increases falling victim to the same kind of shortage," said University of Virginia Political Science Department Chair Jennifer Lawless.

"There's really nothing else that he can do and so this is a terrible position for the administration. It's a terrible position for the Democrats heading into November [mid-term elections] but..maybe the silver lining in this is that polling data suggests that Biden's not the only person being blamed," Lawless added. 

"The war in Ukraine is being blamed for [inflation]. Putin's being blamed for it, an inactive Congress is being blamed for it, the Supreme Court and like the lack of legitimacy they've been now perceived to have are also part of this and so people are basically at their wit's end," said Lawless. "That's the only upside for Joe Biden right now and for the Democrats, in that he's not solely held responsible for everything that seems to be going wrong." 

 

According to Pew Research, the public views inflation as the top problem facing the United States – and no other concern comes close.

Seven in ten Americans view inflation as a very big problem for the country, followed by the affordability of health care (55%) and violent crime (54%).

About half say gun violence and the federal budget deficit are very big problems (51% each), according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted April 25-May 1 among 5,074 U.S. adults.

More than two years into the coronavirus pandemic, just 19% of Americans rate the coronavirus outbreak as a very big problem for the country, the lowest share out of 12 issues included in the survey. In June 2020, in the early stages of the outbreak, 58% rated it as a very big problem, placing it among the top concerns at the time.