The White House's "Bidenomics" campaign touting President Biden's supposed achievements improving the nation's economy is receiving significant pushback from Democrats in light of negative polling and economic figures.
According to recent Fox News polls, most Americans believe the White House is hurting the economy more than helping and continue to have significant concerns over housing costs and inflation. Despite the widespread concerns, the White House continues to push "Bidenomics" and argues that the president's policies have helped recover millions of jobs.
"I've never understood why you would brand an economy in your name when the economy hasn't fully recovered yet," Michael LaRosa, a former spokesperson for first lady Jill Biden, told Politico on Friday. "People need to be able to see and feel an economy in their own personal bank accounts. And it doesn’t change no matter how loud you scream the economy is better."
"With all due respect to the president, to the White House, this is not so much about them as it is the people who are benefiting by the policies that they came out and demanded," added Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. "We have to do a better job framing this not so much for one person — for the office of the presidency — but for the people."
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Additionally, Will Marshall, the president of the left-wing Progressive Policy Institute, suggested in an interview with Politico that "Bidenomics does not really have strong answers to people’s biggest worries."
A September Fox News poll showed that a staggering 91% of Americans remain concerned about higher prices, up from polls in May and March. The poll also showed 80% of Americans are concerned about housing costs, nearly as many are worried about paying bills and 78% view the economy negatively.
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Just 37% of Americans say they view their personal finances as "excellent/good." Additionally, a growing share of Americans believe the Biden administration's economic agenda is actually hurting the economy and growth, up 13% since earlier this year.
The polling comes as key economic figures show negative signals. The personal consumption expenditures index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation metric, showed last week that prices climbed 3.5% in August, up from the 3.3% increase recorded one month prior, and Commerce Department data from August showed U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of just 2.1% in the second quarter of 2023.
Still, Biden and his White House have continued to push Bidenomics repeatedly over the course of the last several months.
"What’s Bidenomics? It’s about investing in — and I feel like I’m going to — I’m going to try not to repeat some of what my colleagues have already said, but it’s about investing in America — investing in America and investing in Americans — American people. It’s about growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up instead of the top down," Biden remarked during a speech in Maryland last month.
"Because when the middle class does well, the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy still do very well."
A cursory scan of the White House's website further shows it has touted "Bidenomics" hundreds of times in the last few months alone.
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"While our work isn’t finished, Bidenomics is already delivering for the American people," the White House said in June. "Our economy has added more than 13 million jobs — including nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs — and we’ve unleashed a manufacturing and clean energy boom."
The vast majority of jobs the economy has added since Biden took office were recovered from during the downturn experienced during government-ordered COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns in 2020. Domestic job growth was on an uptick at the time Biden was inaugurated, according to federal data.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
