CBS poll: More Democrats disagree with Biden over Israel-Hamas war

President Joe Biden’s backing for Israel in its war with Hamas terrorists is alienating at least a third of Democrats, a CBS News/YouGov poll showed.

The share of Democrats who said Biden has shown too much support rose to 38 percent from 28 percent in October, according to the poll, which has a 5 percentage-point margin of error. In a broader sample of Americans, 34 percent said his approach is making a peaceful solution less likely, according to the poll.

The growing civilian toll of Israel’s military operation in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists has drawn increasingly pointed calls for restraint from Democratic lawmakers, U.S. officials and protesters, adding to political risks for Biden as he campaigns for a second term.

At the same time, the Israel-Hamas war ranked well behind inflation, border security and the state of U.S. democracy on the poll’s list of most important problems facing the country.

Last year’s surge in U.S. inflation to a four-decade high is dogging Biden even after annualized gains in the consumer price index fell from a peak of 9.1 percent in 2022 to 3.2 percent in October and inflation-adjusted wages started rising again this year.

About three quarters of CBS poll respondents, or 76 percent, said their income isn’t keeping up with rising prices, 62 percent said the U.S. economy is in bad shape and 56 percent blamed government spending for inflation.

The Biden administration argues there’s still time until next November for Americans to notice the shifting trend in their pocketbooks.

“The macro numbers are going as well as anybody could have predicted, right?” Shalanda Young, head of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “Inflation coming down, job numbers remaining strong, but people have got to feel it and it’s going to take time.

Biden’s approval rating hit a low in a Wall Street Journal poll published Saturday, with the president lagging former President Donald Trump by 47 percent to 43 percent in a hypothetical election matchup.

About 37 percent approve of Biden’s job performance, a low in the WSJ’s polling during his presidency. The share who view his overall image unfavorably reached a record 61 percent.

Much of the unhappiness comes from Democratic-leaning groups who might still back Biden on election day, the Journal reported.