More than three-quarters of Americans (77 percent) say inflation is affecting their lives as the holiday season begins, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll — and a clear majority (57 percent) blame President Biden.
The survey of 1,696 U.S. adults, which was conducted from Nov. 17 to 19, also found that more of them selected inflation as the “most important issue facing America” (17 percent) than any other issue, including COVID-19 (15 percent), which continues to kill more than 1,100 Americans each day, on average.
And just 18 percent say Biden is doing enough to address it.
These results explain in part why the president’s overall approval rating has steadily declined to 43 percent in recent months while his disapproval rating has risen to 52 percent — and why, on the economy, Biden’s approval rating is even lower (40 percent).
A majority of Americans (51 percent) also say they’re worried they “won’t be able to afford what they need during the holidays due to inflation,” while 45 percent say they’re worried they “won’t be able to get what they need” due to shortages.
So far, Americans are not pleased with Biden’s performance on these issues. Asked how much each of the following are to blame for the current inflation, far more Americans say disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (49 percent “a great deal”; 31 percent “some”) than say Biden (39 percent “a great deal”; 18 percent “some”). Mainstream economists agree with that assessment, although many say the administration’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package contributed to the spike.
But when asked who deserves “the most” blame, more Americans say Biden (35 percent) than the pandemic (30 percent).
Yet inflation worries aren’t merely partisan. Nearly 7 in 10 Democrats (69 percent) say inflation affects their lives at least “some” — not all that many less than the number of independents (79 percent) and Republicans (90 percent) who say the same. A quarter of Democrats (25 percent) and more than a third of independents (38 percent) say inflation affects them a “great deal.” Likewise, Democrats are nearly as worried as Republicans about inflation (46 percent vs. 60 percent) and shortages (41 percent vs. 50 percent) affecting their holiday purchases.