Small business owner pleads for help as Biden touts economic strength
President Biden attempted to convince voters of his economic plans by rolling out "Bidenomics" on the campaign trail Wednesday.
A voter panel joined "Fox & Friends First" Thursday, expressing their concerns about the economy under Biden.
President Biden delivered a speech Wednesday in Chicago with a condemnation of "trickle-down economics" and promotion of "Bidenomics" — a term economist critics equated to excessive spending and inflation.
"The economy that grows the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, instead of just the top down — when that happens, everyone does well," Biden said in a nearly 40-minute address. "This vision is a fundamental break from the economic theory that has failed the middle class for decades now. It’s called trickle-down economics."
Air Force veteran Lydia Dominguez said she's "not buying it," and that Biden "should be ashamed" of the economic climate.
"It is creating an atmosphere of desperation and hardship, and it's absolutely atrocious."
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Biden speaks at an event commemorating womens' history.
Dominguez said the economy has affected families like hers that are taking on increasing debt to cover bills and trying to find ways to save money.
"I find a lot of family members and friends are having now two, maybe three additional jobs, it's creating a lot of desperation," said Dominguez.
University of Chicago student Perry Zhao said rising prices of gas, food and electricity are making it hard for him to live off-campus.
"I went to the gas station yesterday and my bill cost me nearly my entire day's worth of work, and I think that's just ridiculous. And additionally, the cost of gas and food otherwise in the city, as well as my electricity living off campus at U. Chicago has been taking a larger chunk of my limited budget than before," said Zhao.
Brooklyn, New York bodega owner Carmelia Bello said she doesn't believe small businesses are being supported by the president.
"I'm actually creating a GoFundMe because I'm about to lose my business at any time. Actually, my door was closed for three weeks. I could not afford the light bill. I could not afford purchases for my bodega. So I don't know how he can even think about saying helping small businesses. He never did."
This idea that "Bidenomics" benefits all Americans, three economists told Fox News Digital, is easily disputed by historically high levels of inflation.
"Bidenomics has been defined by 40-year-high inflation, record drops in labor productivity, anemic economic growth, growing credit card debt, rising interest rates, insipid labor force participation, onerous regulation, falling real incomes, and runaway government spending, borrowing, and printing of money," EJ Antoni, a research fellow for the Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, told Fox News Digital. "Distilled down to a single word, Bidenomics means ‘failure.’"
Biden took office in January 2021 with an inflation rate of a little over 1%, which hiked to 9% by June 2022, and has since fallen to 4%. A Fox News poll from May found 83% of respondents said the nation has a negative economic condition. The poll found Biden’s approval rating on the economy at 32%.
Fox News' Patrick Hauf contributed to this report.
Elizabeth Heckman is a digital production assistant with Fox News.
