Americans trust Republicans MORE than Democrats to deal with crime and the economy, new

Americans trust Republicans more than Democrats to manage key areas like the economy and crime, a new poll suggested on Sunday. 

Fifty percent of voters also said they’d prefer Republicans to handle inflation, according to the ABC News/Washington Post survey, compared to just 31 percent of Democrats.

Nearly seven in 10 also suggested they didn’t like the way President Joe Biden was handling the rising costs that have emptied millions of Americans’ pocketbooks. 

The average cost of consumer goods rose by a 41-year record-high of 8.5 percent last month, the most recent data from the Labor Department states. And Sunday’s survey shows it’s hitting Americans in a big way.

Just 28 percent of respondents said they approve of how Biden is dealing with inflation, and 68 percent disapproved. 

A whopping 44 percent of people said the rising cost of goods made them ‘upset’ while half said they were only ‘concerned.’

But only 6 percent said they were unconcerned altogether.

On the economy, voters trust Republicans more than Democrats by a margin of 50 percentage points to 36.

Prices at the pump shot up by 49 percent in March, exacerbated by the economy’s rebound out of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Americans have also been feeling the pain at the grocery store, with the cost of meat and poultry rising 14 percent and fruits and vegetables by 8.5 percent. 

And amid a crime wave that’s been plaguing major cities across the United States, neither party secured a majority of public confidence. 

But Republicans, with 47 percent support, are still more trusted than Democrats by 12 points.

The GOP is also slightly more trusted on matters of immigration, at 43 percent to Democrats’ 40 percentage points.

However, voters still back Biden’s party in matters of education, abortion, racial equality and LGBTQI+ equality.

More people trust Biden’s party on matters of social equity and education while trusting Republicans like Mitch McConnell more on issues of crime, immigration and the economy

Democrats lead Republicans on social equity regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity by nearly 30 points, at a time when many red state legislatures are passing laws that progressives say are harmful to transgender youth.

And in some good news for Biden, his approval rating has gone up in ABC and the Post’s latest polling from the rock-bottom 37 percent of support he saw in February.

It’s risen by five points to 42 percent, though his disapproval rating is still above 50 percent, though it similarly fell from 55 points to 52.

But despite Americans’ apparent unhappiness with the state of the economy, most are still on the fence about who to vote for in November’s midterm elections.

Forty-six percent of voters said they would pick a Democrat in a generic midterm ballot compared to 45 percent who’d select Republicans.

The consumer price index increased 8.5% in March from a year ago, a 41-year high

Republicans were previously leading in that poll by a margin of 49 to 42. 

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned during a Thursday speech that ‘large negative shocks’ to the economy are inevitable as the United States continues to grapple with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and global disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Biden administration official advocated for greater safeguards against financial downturns, warning they are ‘likely to continue to challenge the economy.’

She explained the Great Recession after the 2008 financial crisis taught policymakers like her to correct the negative course ‘as quickly as possible.’ 

However, any mention of inflation was notably absent from Yellen’s Thursday remarks at the Brookings Institute, according to Bloomberg.

She instead presented a vehement defense of the president’s COVID-19 spending package, which — along with two similar bills signed by Donald Trump — has been blamed by some economists for over-stimulating the economy and fueling today’s out-of-control inflation.

‘These responses played major roles in igniting a robust recovery,’ Yellen argued.