By ZEKE MILLER and SEUNG MIN KIM (Associated Press)
HOUSTON (AP) — “Are you in a better position today than you were four years ago?” It's not often that people's responses to that question have been so complex.
Former President Donald Trump posed the familiar question to his supporters in all capital letters on his Truth Social platform. President Joe Biden repeated the same question three times this week during a series of Texas fundraisers as he finished up a trip through the southwest.
Each candidate hopes that the answer will be in their favor, but the outcome may depend on whether people are thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic, their personal situation, or a broader sense of well-being. pocketbooks Four years ago, the nation was experiencing a widespread shutdown due to the coronavirus, with a sharp increase in unemployment and a falling stock market. Now, the expected Democratic and Republican candidates are heading towards a rematch in which the virus is mostly a painful memory for most Americans, the markets have improved, and unemployment is at or near historic lows.
If the management of the unique outbreak defined the 2020 presidential race, it seems that voters have other concerns as they consider their options in 2024. record lows.
“Speaking of Donald Trump, just a few days ago, he asked the famous question at one of his rallies: Are you in a better situation today than you were four years ago?” Biden told donors this week. “Well Donald, I’m glad you asked that question, man, because I hope everyone in the country takes a moment to think back when it was like in March of 2020.”
From there, Biden went into a recounting of difficult moments from the early days of the pandemic, when hospital emergency rooms were overwhelmed, first responders were risking their lives to care for the sick, and some nurses had to resort to wearing trash bags due to the
lack of personal protective equipment. Trump, on the other hand, takes a broader approach in considering the American mindset..
“Under the Trump administration, you were better off, your family was better off, your neighbors were better off, your communities were better off, and our country was far, far, far better off; that’s for sure,” he said at a rally this month. “America was stronger and tougher and richer and safer and more confident.”
“You have wars that never would have taken place,” Trump claimed. “Russia would have never attacked Ukraine. Israel would have never been attacked. You wouldn’t have had inflation.”
The “are you better off” prompt traces its roots to the 1980 presidential race, when Ronald Reagan criticized then-President Jimmy Carter during a televised debate and propelled himself to the White House.
In a February
AP-NORC poll , only 24% of Americans said they were better off than when Biden became president, while 41% said they were worse off and 34% said neither. The majority also said the country as a whole and the national economy were worse off than when Biden became president.Biden's team argues that the question — like other measures of presidential performance in polls — has been influenced by partisanship. They say their internal surveys have shown that voters tend to ignore the pandemic unless they are reminded of it, and when asked about Trump, they tend to think of the years before the pandemic rather than 2020.
Biden's team was planning to focus on reaching out to voters and hadn't planned to ask voters about Reagan. But when Trump joined the conversation, Biden responded quickly.
When speaking to wealthy donors in Texas, Biden reminded them that four years ago, there were makeshift morgues outside hospitals due to many deaths, unemployment and the stock market plummeted.
There were not enough products on the shelves in grocery stores. At that time, Trump was not listening to his health experts and was promoting unproven treatments to the public.Biden mentioned Trump's suggestion to inject bleach while speaking in Houston. Biden's team also highlighted some of Trump's controversial moments from 2020, including the bleach comment. Trump's national press secretary disagreed with Biden's statements in a statement.
The statement from Trump's national press secretary countered Biden's claims.
Four years ago, Trump received poor ratings from voters for his handling of the pandemic, leading to his loss in the White House. ad Republican strategist Alex Conant stated that the answer to whether people were better off is not clear and is a factor in the election's uncertainty.
Conant also added that while the pandemic is over, it isn't clear who should be blamed or credited for its end.
The majority of COVID-19 deaths occurred during Biden's presidency, while he faced challenges in managing new variants and increasing vaccination rates.
The response to whether people were better off can have different interpretations.
Republican strategist Alex Conant expressed that currently, the answer to this question is not clear due to various factors.
Conant also mentioned that although voters don't want to return to the difficult times of 2020, they are not satisfied with the current situation based on poll numbers.
In some ways, many people felt financially better during the pandemic due to considerable government assistance, which resulted in growth and kept inflation and interest rates low.
The average annual incomes of the bottom 50% of earners in the U.S. increased as they received money from Biden's coronavirus relief efforts.
economists at The University of California, Berkeley. Average disposable income has decreased to $26,100 in March 2023. Consequently, individuals may feel less prosperous, despite their incomes being higher than pre-pandemic levels in early 2020. Biden, however, is attempting to provide a future-oriented perspective on the retrospective query, aiming to emphasize the difference with Trump's administration in his reelection campaign.
“The issue isn’t just returning to where Trump had the country. It’s about his current plans for the future,” he informed donors.
In conclusion, he stated, “The focus isn't on me. It's on him.”
Miller reported from Washington. AP Director of Public Opinion Research Emily Swanson and writer Josh Boak in Washington and Darlene Superville in Kissimmee, Florida contributed.
___
Each candidate hopes the response leans in their favor — but the decision may ultimately depend on whether people are considering the COVID-19 pandemic, their financial situations, or a broader sense of well-being.
