Fox News Voter Analysis: Majorities blame Biden for high prices, peg inflation as single most important factor
Fifty-one percent of voters said rising prices were the most important issue while 54% said Biden's policies were to blame for inflation, according to Fox News Voter Analysis
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Majorities of voters blamed President Biden for rising consumer prices and said the issue was the single most important issue for them when casting their ballot in the midterm election, according to Fox News Voter Analysis.
The Fox News Voter Analysis election survey showed that 51% of voters nationwide characterize increasing prices for gas, groceries and other goods as the single most important factor in deciding how to vote. Another 42% said rising prices are an important factor, but not the most factor.
Of the voters who said inflation is the largest factor, 63% backed the Republican candidate in their House district while 33% voted for the Democrat.
In addition, 54% of voters said Biden's policies were more to blame for inflation and 81% of them went for the Republican. Among the 46% blaming factors beyond Biden’s control, 83% supported the Democrat.
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Ahead of the election, Republicans across the country made inflation a major part of their platform. Democrats including Biden largely argued that inflation is slowing down and Republicans' plans would make it worse.
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"So, the economy is up. The price of inflation is down. Real incomes are up. Gas prices are down and need to come down further," Biden remarked at a campaign event in New Mexico last week.
"Under the Republican plan, many the biggest corporations are going to go back to paying zero in taxes, as they did, as I told you earlier, 55 of them are paying — making $40 billion, paid nothing," he continued. "Look, folks, that’s their plan. It’s reckless and it’s irresponsible. It would make inflation considerably worse, badly hurt working-class and middle-class Americans."
President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event in New York on Sunday. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky / AP Newsroom)
In September, the Consumer Price Index, a common tool for measuring inflation, ticked up 0.4% month-over-month and 8.2% year-over-year, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report published last month. The figure came in hotter than economists had projected ahead of the report.
Core prices, which exclude volatile energy and food prices, increased by 6.6% on an annual basis, the largest jump in 40 years.
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About 157 million Americans, roughly 61% of the nation's population, are living paycheck to paycheck because of high inflation, survey data from Lending Club showed. That number is up from 55% recorded in June 2021.
And the average American worker has lost $3,400 in annual income due to inflation under Biden, according to a July estimate from E.J. Antoni, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation.