Following up on a point I made last week: Americans may say they approve of banning Russian oil imports, but that doesn’t mean they actually want to pay more for gasoline. (Russian oil accounts for a small percentage of American usage, but its absence from the world market does drive price increases.) An ABC/Ipsos poll shows 70 percent of Americans disapprove of how Biden is handling inflation, and the same 70 percent say that about gas prices. Biden’s handling of the “economic recovery” — a phrasing seemingly meant to put a positive spin on the economy — wins only 41 percent approval.
On another note, more Americans blame Trump than Biden for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: 34 percent place “a great deal” or “a good amount” of blame on Trump; 31 percent say one or the other about Biden. Wrap your heads around that.