Fewer Americans are willing to back Biden’s costly response to Russian aggression as domestic problems heighten because they don’t have confidence in his ability to handle the war in Ukraine.
A new poll from the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 21 percent of Americans say they have “a great deal of confidence” in Biden to properly address the war in Eastern Europe. At least 39 percent, however, say they have “hardly any” confidence in the Democrat, whose approval rating hit an all-time low of 39 percent this week.
Overall, 54 percent of Americans say they disapprove of Biden’s handling of U.S. relations with Russia in general.
Because of their distrust in Biden, fewer Americans see taking action against Russia as a priority. In March, 55 percent of U.S. adults said sanctioning Russia should be a higher priority for the Biden administration than protecting the American economy. Since then, that number has dropped 10 percentage points.
Now, 51 percent of American adults say the federal government should focus on limiting damage to the U.S. economy which is already suffering from record-high gas prices and rising inflation. Biden, however, continues to blame the nation’s economic woes, which started long before shots were fired in Ukraine, on “Putin’s price hike.”
With help from Republicans and Democrats in Congress, Biden also devoted time and effort to funneling $40 billion in taxpayer dollars to the Ukrainian government, despite the fact that at least 32 percent of Americans surveyed by AP said they oppose sending funds directly to Ukraine.
Biden’s administration is also considering sending troops to the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, despite the president’s previous pledge to restrict military deployment to NATO countries only and Americans’ strong opposition to boots on the ground.