Bidenomics and inflation has been costly to Black Americans and 35% of them disapprove
Biden touts 'Bidenomics' despite dismal approval on economy
The 'Outnumbered' panel discussed Biden's record on the economy and his approval rating as the race for the 2024 election heats up.
Following underwhelming turnout in last year's midterms along with recent polls throughout the summer, Washington Democrats have begun a whisper campaign urging the White House to investigate plummeting support from Black Americans.
A Washington Post/Ipsos poll this spring revealed that only 17% of Blacks would be enthusiastic about President Joe Biden’s re-election. It’s the economy stupid.
Many forget that the famous "March on Washington" was primarily about the need for more jobs in the Black community. Sixty years later, the problem persists.
Blacks, perhaps more so than any group core to Biden’s re-election, are dissatisfied with the nation’s economy. Nevertheless, Biden has spent the last few months on an economic victory tour, touting the success of ‘Bidenomics.’ But despite his claims of record unemployment, increased wages and falling inflation, a critical number of Black Americans are unconvinced, as is the rest of the nation.
Some in the White House Press have grown worried about President Joe Biden's limited support among Black Americans. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Indeed, according to the Associated Press, overall only 36% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s handling of the economy. Among Blacks, the overall numbers are better, but Quinnipiac says 35% of Blacks disapprove of Biden’s economy. Many of Biden’s supposed wins are just cherry-picked data points.
Despite what the administration insists about lowered inflation, inflation has still outpaced wage growth for the entirety of Biden’s presidency with inflation up 15% and wages only up 12%. When it comes to the inflation rate of essentials like food, rent, and utilities, those prices are up almost 25% since Biden took office.
The result of which is the typical household spends $709 more per month than two years ago. Black Americans, whose wages on average are lower than the population at large, find the high energy, household basics and rent costs a particularly heavy burden since they take up a greater share of their salaries.
The signs of economic distress abound. The average age of a car on the road is now a record 12.5 years. Between tight supplies, rising prices and increased interest rates, few Americans can bear the cost of purchasing a new car. The latest figures show that Black Americans are especially hesitant, as their share of the new vehicle market has declined by 8%, even as other groups rebounded post pandemic.
Across other indicators of economic status as well, blacks are losing ground during the Biden administration. The homeownership gap between Whites and Blacks is wider now than it was in 1960 before the civil rights movement.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 74.6% of White households owned their homes in 2022 compared to 45.3% of Black households (an almost 30-point gap). Compare that to 1960, when White homeownership was at 65% and Black at 38% (a 27-point gap).
Meanwhile, White House cheerleaders have been hailing Biden as the greatest job-creating president of all time. The White House is still erroneously counting pandemic job recovery as ‘creation.’
The reality is that millions who were forced out of the workforce in 2021 by Biden's covid policies (a disproportionate amount of who were Black Americans) are merely returning. And despite the unemployment rate reaching 3.5% overall, the unemployment gap between Black and White Americans has been widening.
Blacks, perhaps more so than any group core to Biden’s re-election, are dissatisfied with the nation’s economy. Nevertheless, Biden has spent the last few months on an economic victory tour, touting the success of ‘Bidenomics.’ But despite his claims of record unemployment, increased wages and falling inflation, a critical number of Black Americans are unconvinced, as is the rest of the nation.
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Since April 2023, the Black unemployment rate has risen by over 23% to a rate of 5.8%, compared to a white unemployment rate that has remained steady during the same period at around 3.1%.
As mentioned in my first book, "How Donald Trump is Making Black America Great Again," this employment disparity was on its way to becoming a relic of the past during the Trump years as Blacks gained jobs as faster rates than the population at large. But under ‘Bidenomics,’ Black Americans are once again falling behind.
Pouring salt in the wounds, gas prices have climbed to their highest level in nearly 10 months. The Biden administration, which has shuttered domestic drilling at every opportunity, has made the U.S. increasingly reliant on the benevolence of Saudi Arabi and OPEC.
Black homeowners, who already pay $408 more annually for energy than the population at large, are once again the losers. The "green energy" agenda pushes the interests of Black voters to the back of the political bus.
The warning signs are obvious. The Biden economy isn’t doing anyone any favors and is causing undue harm to Black Americans in particular. Unless things improve dramatically, the White House should worry about the Black vote in 2024.
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Horace Cooper is a legal commentator and the author of Put Y'all Back in Chains: How Joe Biden's Policies Hurt Black Americans.
