Voters are moving on from the pandemic, and that’s bad news for Biden

Haisten Willis

July 20, 06:30 AM July 20, 06:30 AM

New polling shows that voters are largely moving on from the COVID-19 pandemic despite the presence of new variants and rising hospitalizations — and that could spell bad news for President Joe Biden.

Just 1% of respondents in a Monmouth University poll identified the coronavirus as the most important problem facing their family today, showing much more concern for inflation (33%) and gas prices (15%) as the virus begins to fade from the collective conscience.

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“Economic concerns tend to rise to the top of the list of family concerns, as you might expect, but the singular impact of inflation is really hitting home right now," said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, in a statement. "And most Americans are blaming Washington for their current pain."

While the fact that the public is now looking beyond the virus can be seen as a positive overall, in a political sense, it is a negative for Biden because his handling of the virus is the only major issue on which his approval rating outstrips his overall disapproval numbers.

Biden came into office promising to "shut down the virus" and has largely stayed above water on the issue of the pandemic, with 47.6% approving and 42.4% disapproving. This is far better than his predecessor, who left office with 57.1% disapproval regarding his handling of COVID-19.

Polling also shows just how rapidly inflation came to be seen as the dominant issue facing the country, largely at the expense of the pandemic. Monmouth's data show COVID-19 was the top issue for voters as recently as December, when it was identified as a No. 1 priority by 18% of respondents. It was the biggest worry for 57% of respondents in March 2020, by 39% in August 2020, and by 17% in July 2021.

Inflation, by contrast, didn't even register as a question until July 2021, when it was identified as the top priority by 5% of respondents. That figure jumped to 14% in December and 33% in June, becoming the top issue overall. Combined with the 15% who said the related issue of gas prices was their top concern, nearly half of voters in the poll said economic issues are their biggest problem.

Biden's approval ratings fell as inflation rose, leading to a situation in which CNN data analyst Harry Enten described Biden's disapproval as the "worst overall" in history.

"We can look at both Joe Biden’s disapproval rating on inflation and Joe Biden’s disapproval rating overall, and what we see is his disapproval rating on inflation is topping 70%. His disapproval rating overall is still in the 50s. But, if you compare that to every single other president at this point in their first term throughout polling history — this goes all the way back since the 1940s — he is the worst on both," Enten told Anderson Cooper. “The reason he is worst overall is because inflation is eating his presidency alive at this point."

The turn of events has political implications for the midterm elections, as an issue on which Biden is seen as weak supplants an issue on which he is seen as strong in the minds of voters. The Democratic-led Jan. 6 hearings have kept former President Donald Trump in the headlines, but inflation was much lower throughout Trump's term, negating some of the foil effect the hearings could have on Biden.

The lack of concern among voters about COVID-19 comes even as the virus is beginning to crop back up in the news.

The BA.5 omicron subvariant now accounts for 65% of circulating COVID-19 strains in the United States, Biden administration officials said last week. The omicron offshoot is responsible for a recent spike in infections in the U.S., including many reinfections, and has proven more transmissible than the previously dominant subvariant. BA.4, another omicron cousin that has proven able to reinfect people, makes up for about 16% of cases.

Earlier this week, Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, for many the face of the pandemic, announced he will leave his job by the end of Biden's first term, ending a career spanning more than 50 years working for the federal government. But Fauci was careful to emphasize that COVID-19 hasn't gone away.

“We’re in a pattern now. If somebody says, ‘You’ll leave when we don’t have COVID anymore,’ then I will be 105. I think we’re going to be living with this,” Fauci said when asked whether he would remain in his role out of a sense of obligation.

With the president far underwater with voters when it comes to his handling of the economy, he will have his work cut out for him to make improvements in order to minimize GOP gains in November.

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One year ago, Biden was insisting that inflation, then only around 5%, was going to mitigate, saying, "There’s nobody suggesting there’s unchecked inflation on the way — no serious economist. That’s totally different.” With that figure nearly doubling in 12 months, the president has joined voters in listing inflation as his biggest focus.

"Tackling inflation is my top priority," he said on July 13. "We need to make more progress more quickly in getting price increases under control."