Trump approval ratings plummet – US President lacks an economic scapegoat

Astrid Lund - Betty MacDonald fan club organizer: "Finally send Donald Trump where he belongs! He can't do any more damage on the golf course."--------------------------------------- Frankfurter Rundschau Trump approval ratings plummet – US President lacks an economic scapegoat Tadhg Nagel • 2 hours • 3 minutes read Economic sentiment is shifting The poll numbers are against Trump. Are voters increasingly holding him accountable – a turning point in the economic narrative? Washington, D.C. – The economy was a high priority in US President Donald Trump's election campaign – especially his promise to reduce the inflation that Americans have faced since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The POTUS likes to blame his predecessor, Joe Biden, for the poor economic situation. This resonated with the public for a long time. But recent polls show that the math is becoming less and less accurate. A CBS News survey found that Americans are increasingly critical of Trump's handling of the economy. When asked whose policies are more responsible for the state of the economy, 54 percent said they blame Trump's policies. Only 21 percent said they believe Biden's policies are the cause. This compares to a poll by the same newspaper in March, in which 38 percent of respondents said they blamed Biden for inflation, while only 34 percent blamed Trump. Trump Losing Support on Economic Issues: New Polls Show Significant Drop in Opinion A new poll by The Economist paints a similar picture. It finds that 50 percent of respondents now blame Trump for the economic situation, compared to 32 percent who blame Biden. Six percent said they blame neither Trump nor Biden, while 13 percent were unsure. This represents a slight shift from two polls from the previous month. At the end of March, 48 percent blamed Trump and 32 percent blamed Biden. At the beginning of March, 44 percent blamed Trump and 34 percent blamed Biden. Data analyst Harry Enten, who writes for CNN, doubts that the US president's strategy is still working. "Of course, Joe Biden was the last president. Donald Trump is the current president. Donald Trump wants to say, 'Don't blame me if you're unhappy with the state of the economy, blame someone else.' I don't think Americans are buying that, at least not at this point," he said. US citizens blame Trump: Approval of economic policy plummets in polls Trump has repeatedly claimed that he inherited a terrible economy from his predecessor. In fact, by standard economic measures, the US economy was in excellent shape when Biden handed over the keys to the White House, according to an analysis by the British Guardian. When Biden left office, the unemployment rate was a low 4.1 percent. In addition, the average unemployment rate during Biden's four-year term was lower than under any other president since the 1960s. Trump's predecessor also did not fare as poorly in terms of inflation as is often claimed. The inflation rate was only 2.9 percent when Biden left office – more than two-thirds below its peak and close to the Federal Reserve's inflation target. The numbers speak against Trump: Biden's economy performs better than claimed in comparisons The nation's GDP growth was also impressive. At the end of Biden's term, gross domestic product rose by a solid 3.1 percent. And since the end of the pandemic, economic growth in the US has picked up significantly faster than in Great Britain, France, Germany, and other G7 countries. US President Donald Trump's economic record is increasingly falling into disrepute. Furthermore, Trump often claims that job growth under Biden has been inadequate, which is also false. During his presidency, 16.6 million jobs were created—more than during the entire four-year term of any previous US president. During Trump's first term, however, the nation lost 2.7 million jobs. This makes him the first president since Herbert Hoover to experience a net loss of jobs in the US. While this was largely due to the coronavirus pandemic, even in the first three years of Trump's term, job growth was only half as fast as under Biden. (tpn)