President Biden boasted that “Bidenomics is working” for Black Americans in an op-ed saluting the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington.
“Vice President Harris and I came into office determined to change the economic direction of the country and grow the economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down,” he wrote in the Washington Post. “Our plan — Bidenomics — is working. Because of the major laws and executive orders I’ve signed — from the American Rescue Plan, the bipartisan infrastructure law, the Chips and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, my executive orders on racial equity and more — we’re advancing equity in everything we do making unprecedented investments in all of America, including for Black Americans.”
Biden has repeatedly touted “Bidenomics” – the sweeping term he’s embraced for his White House’s spending and investment policies in contrast to a Republican “trickle-down” approach – as lifting the middle class by lowering costs and touted the country’s low unemployment rate. But he has continued to receive poor approval ratings on the key issue, with some media outlets like the New York Times recently dinging the public for its “refusal to give him credit for the good economic news.”
A recent AP poll found 62% of respondents disapprove of Biden’s handling of inflation, compared to 34% who said they approve. Although the inflation rate has come down, it’s still high enough to affect everyday American purchasing power, and outlets have appeared frustrated that Biden isn’t getting his due – “his efforts have yet to meaningfully register with the public,” the AP fretted earlier this month about how he’s promoting “the positive impacts of his policies.”
Biden’s op-ed and economic appeal to Black Americans on Sunday was timed with the anniversary of King’s famous march. On Aug. 28, 1963, King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of an enormous crowd in Washington’s National Mall, in what became an iconic moment in the Civil Rights Movement.
Biden touted his and Vice President Kamala Harris’ plan as a continuation of the “march forward” envisioned by King.
“In describing his dream for us all, Dr. King spoke of redeeming the ‘promissory note to which every American was to fall heir’ derived from the very idea of America — we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives,” he said. “While we’ve never fully lived up to that promise as a nation, we have never fully walked away from it, either. Each day of the Biden-Harris administration, we continue the march forward.”
Biden wrote it came as a “fundamental break with trickle-down economics that promised prosperity but failed America, especially Black Americans.” Although he never mentioned Republicans by name in the article, he hit “the same guardians of trickle-down economics” for attacking “our administration’s economic policies [and] also attacking the private sector and the views of the American people.”
“Despite the attacks, we all must keep pushing to create a workforce that reflects America,” he wrote, adding, “On this day of remembrance, let us keep showing that racial equity isn’t just an aspiration. Let us reject the cramped view that America is a zero-sum game that holds that for one to succeed, another must fail. Let us remember America is big enough for everyone to do well and reach their God-given potential.”
Biden’s approval among Black voters is a point of concern for the White House as he seeks re-election. Softening Democratic support from what’s long been a reliable voting bloc in 2020 and 2022, coupled with a recent survey that said 35 percent of Black voters disapproved of Biden’s economy, could contribute to those worries continuing.
Source: Fox News
