Polls and the White House response
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said Sunday he didn’t believe recent polls showing Americans feel negatively about the economy. AAA, meanwhile, reported the average price of regular gas at $4.37 a gallon. The national average has stayed above $4 during the Iran war, which has affected gas prices.
“Ahead of an election cycle, the fact that there’s, you know, possibly partisan pollsters telling us that the people are really really depressed, it’s a classic Democrat move, and I just don’t buy it,” Hassett told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” He challenged the polling rather than treating it as a measure of how people view the economy.
Hassett pointed to consumer spending. “Because if it were true, if the polls were any value for thinking about what’s going on with consumers, then we should look at the consumption data and say, ‘Geez, yeah, that’s right. People aren’t spending.’ But, in fact, the retailers are doing well.” He said retailers’ performance didn’t support the negative picture he said the polls presented.
Prices and political pressure
The polls cited in the account measured disapproval of the president’s economic handling and concern about high prices. A Quinnipiac University poll found that 62 percent of respondents opposed President Trump’s handling of the economy.
An Associated Press/NORC Research Center survey found that 65 percent said the president’s policies were behind high prices, more than other economic drivers. In that survey, more than half of respondents said the national economy and the United States overall had been worse off since the president returned to the White House.
Republicans face political challenges ahead of the midterms. The Iran war and tariffs are unpopular, according to the account. The war has affected gas prices, and the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the oil industry, remains closed amid the conflict.
AAA put the average U.S. price of regular gas at $4.37 on Sunday morning. The average has stayed above $4 during the Iran war. The figures put the cost at the pump alongside polling in which respondents attributed high prices to the president’s policies. The account doesn’t provide a separate breakdown of the price’s causes.
Approval and the economic measures
Decision Desk HQ’s polling average put Trump’s overall approval rating at 38.5 percent on Sunday morning. That measure tracks overall approval; the Quinnipiac and AP/NORC findings report views specifically on the economy, prices and conditions in the country.
Hassett’s defense rested on consumer spending and retailer performance. He didn’t cite a spending figure, identify which retailers were doing well, or provide a measure of how gas costs affected household budgets. The polls, meanwhile, recorded opposition to the president’s handling of the economy and respondents’ views about the source of high prices.
The account reports no union response, worker quote, wage figure, or proposal to change prices or economic policy. Its measures are retailer performance, public polling, gas prices and presidential approval. Those figures place Hassett’s rejection of the polls beside the reported cost of fuel and voters’ assessments of the administration’s economic record.