OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
While President Joe Biden and his administration continue to try and convince Americans that their lives are better under his economic policies collectively known as “Bidenomics,” the reality for a growing majority is that no, life was much better under former President Donald Trump.
And in fact, a damning new statistic is likely to further endanger Biden’s reelection chances.
“Many people of all races, and especially younger voters, are dismissing President Joe Biden’s claim that ‘they have the money to spend,’ with some revealing that they went without food one day last month,” the Washington Examiner reported Friday, citing a new poll.
“In an unusual survey that tapped into the hurt many feel from inflation, minorities, young voters, and those with just a high school education suffered from food “insecurity,” Zogby Analytics said,” the outlet reported. At least 14 percent of respondents said they went at least a day without food in April.
Blacks, a reliably Democratic voting bloc that has increasingly shifted to Trump and that Biden is attempting to hold together have been especially hard-hit by his Bidenomics, which has produced record-high and sustained high foot prices.
African American voters who were aged 18-24 (34%) were almost five times as likely as voters aged 55-69 (7%) to experience food insecurity in the last month. Numbers also increased among rural African Americans (31%, compared to 21% of urban and 16% of suburban African Americans, respectively), and African Americans without a college education (23%) were twice as likely to experience food insecurity than those with a college education (10%),” the analysis said.
Hispanics are another demographic struggling under Biden.
“Among Hispanic voters, numbers were similar, especially among certain sub-groups. One in five (19%) of surveyed Hispanics experienced food insecurity. Younger Hispanics aged 18-24 (30%) were three times as likely to experience food insecurity than Hispanics aged 55-69 (11%). Also like African Americans surveyed, rural (29%) Hispanics were more likely to experience food insecurity, compared to urban (20%) and suburban (14%) Hispanics. Non-college educated (22%) Hispanics were twice as likely to have gone without food for more than twenty-four hours in the last month compared to college educated (10%) Hispanics,” the analysis said.
Jonathan Zogby, CEO of the polling firm, told the Examiner: “With inflation still hot in terms of food prices, people nationally, including minorities, are struggling to pay for groceries. The big test for President Biden will be to not have inflation or food insecurity numbers further increase in the next six months. Food insecurity could also hurt the president in certain swing states, especially if African American and Hispanic voters are struggling more to put food on their tables.”
Biden dismissed concerns about food prices and other areas of inflation, telling CNN’s Erin Burnett, “They have the money to spend.”
The Examiner noted further:
The initial poll was conducted in January, when it was hoped that inflation would begin to turn down. It has instead stayed at elevated levels, and now, the country is seeing a surge in jobless claims, another sign the president’s “Bidenomics” is failing.
Should inflation go unchecked and the president’s base of minority voters continue to be forced to skip a meal or a day of food, Biden could face defeat in the fall, Zogby’s analysis added.
“The big question will be whether two important voting blocs, African Americans, and Hispanics, will continue to support President Biden overwhelmingly come November, while they continue to struggle with food insecurity. Could enough African American and Hispanic voters who are experiencing hardship and poverty go over to Donald Trump or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and sway the election? The president will need to focus more on his accomplishments over the last three years, otherwise he may go down as a one term president,” the Zogby analysis added.
Real economic growth has been steady for months, and inflation has been trending downward from historic highs during Biden’s first couple of years in office, but that is nothing to celebrate for the vast majority of working Americans, according to a March report.
CNN noted that behind these positive economic indicators, “a frustrating reality persists: Life is far too expensive for far too many.”
