Poll: More voters blame Biden, not Russia or oil companies, for soaring gas prices

A plurality of voters say the Biden administration is to blame for recent increased prices at the pump, according to a new poll by Emerson College.  

Roughly 39% of respondents said President Biden was responsible, compared to about 21% who said it was the fault of a U.S. ban on Russian energy imports and fewer than 18% who said it was the fault of oil and gas companies. Less than 10% blamed supply chain disruptions, 8.5% said COVID-19 and just under 5% were unsure.

Approximately the same number of people blamed Mr. Biden vs. Russian sanctions and oil companies combined, but the results still offer a grim prospect for the administration and Democrats going into the midterms. Despite bipartisan approval to sanction Russian gas over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and claims by Democrats and Mr. Biden that Big Oil has been taking advantage of consumers, many voters still fault the administration for recent record-high gasoline prices.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas on Tuesday was $4.24, down 9 cents from the all-time average high of $4.33 earlier this month, according to AAA. Oil prices were around $113 per barrel, rising in recent days but down from when they topped $130 a barrel a few weeks ago.

With the plurality of respondents indicating the economy is the most important issue to them, which includes jobs, inflation and taxes, Mr. Biden struggles among independent voters, noted Spencer Kimball, executive director of the Emerson College Poll. Just 28% of independents approved of Mr. Biden’s overall job performance, compared to 64% who disapproved.

The Emerson College survey was conducted March 18-20 among 1,023 registered voters and has a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points.