Barely one in 10 voters buy the Biden administration’s claim that Russia is to blame for high gas prices
A Rasmussen poll released Tuesday found that only 11% Americans believe Russian President Vladimir Putin to be to blame for high US gas prices. The majority of Americans blame Joe Biden, the US president.
More than half (52%) of respondents to the Rasmussen poll conducted last week pointed to Biden’s poor energy policies as the reason gas has become unaffordable, meaning the administration’s “Putin’s price hike” narrative does not appear to be catching on.
The people who do not blame Putin nor Biden are quick to point the finger at oil companies. In fact, 29% said that they believe the industry uses the current geopolitical uncertainty to boost its prices.
Perhaps aware that his “Putin’s price hike” narrative no longer holds water, Biden has been leaning toward blaming oil and gas companies for the ruinous costs of fueling up, recently accusing the industry of “Making more money than God.” The president has insisted that oil companies are deliberately holding back from drilling “They make more money than they produce more oil.”
Although the US has banned Russian oil imports in March, Russia supplied only two percent of its crude oil prior to that, and the US is an exporter of net natural gas, which makes it difficult for Russia to claim responsibility for record-setting pump prices.
The key issue going into the midterms is the rising gas price. Some 92% of voters saw the rising price of gas, home heating oil, and other fuels as a serious problem in Tuesday’s poll, with 68% calling the problem “Extremely serious.”
With no sign of an economic turnaround and elections coming in November, the Democratic Party is likely to be blamed for voters’ economic suffering, and both houses of Congress may end up under Republican control.
Only 27% of potential voters rated Biden’s handling of the economy as “excellent” or “It’s good” in Tuesday’s poll, a five-point drop since December, while 57% rated his performance as “poor.” Nearly three-quarters of Americans say the economy has gotten worse in the past year, with just 11% saying it has gotten better and the remainder undecided.
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Faced with public refusal to believe the desired “Putin’s price hike” narrative laying the responsibility for American suffering at Russia’s feet, politicians have gotten creative. Larry Summers (ex-treasury secretary) went as far to blame Republicans for not displaying enough horror to respond to January 6 Capitol Riot. This was responsible for the 40 percent increase in inflation.
Summers is one of many US economists who predicted a recession in the coming year. But Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen denied that such an outcome was possible. Inflation was downplayed by Janet Yellen last year. She called it a temporary and mild phenomenon that would pass as the economy spiraled outof control. The number one issue going into the midterm election is inflation.
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