One Stat in New Poll a Big Problem for Biden

"Inflation is coming down," President Biden declared on the campaign trail last week. "Jobs are growing," he added, a reference to the still-sizzling labor market. On top of that, the stock market has been booming to record levels. Despite the rosy stats, however, a new NBC News poll points to a potentially big pitfall for Biden heading into the general election:

• Donald Trump has a 22-point lead over the president when voters are asked which of them would handle the economy better. Trump is at 55% and Biden 33%.
• And things are going in the wrong direction for Biden: When the question was asked in October 2020, Trump's lead was only 7 percentage points (48% to 41%).

• Biden has blamed the media for skewed economic coverage: "Start reporting it the right way," he said late last year, per the Hill. Among other things, he said reporters were fixated on a possible recession and not fully reporting the context of inflation coming out of the pandemic.
• But a post at Roll Call suggests Biden's trouble with voters on the economy is because ordinary people have "long memories" when it comes to inflation's impact on their "own personal economies"—think gas prices and grocery bills. Yes, inflation has fallen below 4%. "But when he came into office, inflation was at 1.4 percent in January 2021, and had been under 3 percent for 109 consecutive months," writes David Winston, a longtime GOP adviser. The White House's mantra that "inflation is only transitory" didn't help much, he adds.
• In other not-so-great news from the poll for Biden, his approval rating fell to a new low of 37%. And respondents gave Trump a 21-point advantage on which candidate was "competent and effective," per the Hill. In 2020, Biden led in this category by 9 points.

(More Election 2024 stories.)