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A majority of American voters say Democrats and their policies are at least partially to blame for rising gas prices, a new poll suggested on Sunday.
The apparent resentment is part of a larger picture of peoples’ dissatisfaction with how President Joe Biden is handling Russia‘s war in Ukraine.
Fifty-three percent of respondents to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll said they do not approve of the president’s leadership while trying to navigate the brutal invasion in Eastern Europe.
However, despite its effects on day-to-day life domestically, a majority also support giving Ukraine more help to fight off Vladimir Putin‘s forces — with the exception of US boots on the ground in the war zone.
That includes a whopping 79 percent of voters stating they support harsher economic sanctions on Russia. A measly seven percent said they were against tightening the economic noose, while 13 percent said they were unsure.
Gas prices, which had already been rising due to inflation caused by the economy’s rebound from COVID-19, surged when Putin ordered an attack on Ukraine in the early hours of February 24.
As of Sunday, the nationwide average price of a gallon of gas is about $4.12. It’s lower than the all-time high seen a month ago of $4.33, but still nearly double the $2.87 per gallon cost of April 2020.
Just over 50 percent of Americans who responded to ABC’s survey said they at least partially blame President Joe Biden for rising gas prices and disapprove of his handling of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
A young man pushes a wheelbarrow in front of a destroyed apartment building in the town of Borodyanka, Ukraine, on Sunday, April 10. The ABC poll found that while Americans broadly disagreed with Biden, they agreed with nearly every facet of US policy concerning Ukraine — including tightening sanctions, welcoming refugees and opposing a no-fly zone
In most of California, prices at the pump still exceed $5 per gallon. Mono County, in the eastern-central part of the state, has an average cost of $6.65.
Fifty-two percent of respondents to ABC’s poll said Democratic policies share either a great deal or a good amount of blame for the rising costs, compared to 46 percent who said they don’t blame Democrats much or at all.
Just a third of those voters blames Republicans — which is expected, given Democrats control both the White House and Congress.
A 51-percent majority also said Biden himself was to blame, though the largest swath of survey respondents pointed the finger at big oil companies and Putin.
Even the president has publicly criticized the American energy industry, blaming corporations for keeping prices at the pump sky-high even as crude oil costs drop from the all-time high in March.
He’s also dubbed the rising costs as ‘Putin’s price hike.’
Sixty-eight percent of voters said big oil was to blame for the economic hardship of high gas prices. Seventy-one percent said it was Putin’s fault.
And despite Americans’ disagreement with how Biden is handling the attack on Ukraine, most voters seem to be supportive of the White House’s policy steps.
Meanwhile gas prices are still above $6 per gallon in parts of California (pictured April 4)
In addition to the nearly eight in 10 who said they’d back tougher sanctions, 70 percent said they support the federal government sending more arms and supplies to Ukraine.
A 63-percent majority also would be open to welcoming Ukrainian refugees into the US, and 53 percent of respondents said they’d back sending more US troops to European countries outside of Ukraine.
Fifty-five percent of ABC survey respondents said they’re against the American military fighting in Ukraine, something Biden has repeatedly ruled out.
Opposition to setting up a no-fly zone in Ukraine has also climbed slightly, after Biden and western Allies were initially criticized for refusing to take such a step.
Foreign policy experts have expressed concern that establishing and enforcing a no-fly zone in Ukraine’s skies would almost certainly risk a direct confrontation with Russia — one of the world’s largest nuclear powers — that could potentially break out into World War III.
Thirty-eight percent of people said they were against a no-fly zone, compared to 27 percent who were in favor. Roughly a third said they did not know.
The opposition to a no-fly zone climbed four percentage points since the last time the poll was conducted in March, just weeks after the invasion began. Support for the military measure has decreased by the same amount.
The poll was conducted between April 8 and April 9, and sampled 530 adults.
Source: DailyMail
