On January 23, 2023, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s press briefing seemed to fly in the face of the average American’s reality. As she touted the administration’s inflated job numbers and claimed that Bidenomics was “lowering costs for families,” she once again claimed, “Now we’re seeing consumer sentiment rise as more Americans feel the results of President Biden’s economic plan.”
Democrats complain that President Joe Biden isn’t getting credit for his economic policies. Recent polling shows that Americans are unconvinced that their bank accounts are lying when, month after month, they struggle to pay for basic necessities. Unless Biden can miraculously get average Americans back to the financial stability they enjoyed before he took office, his reelection campaign is in jeopardy. Biden created every bit of consumer pain, and this late in his presidency, there’s little he can do to win back the masses.
As of the first week of January, an ABC poll found Biden upside down in his overall approval rating, at 41%, and his handling of the economy, with an astounding 67% blaming him for crippling inflation.
Astonishingly, a handful of voters still approve of Biden and feel the economy is doing well. These are America’s elite, and their out-of-touch worldview reveals a notable disconnect with the reality most Americans face.
The elite ruling class comprises a few select individuals with significant wealth and financial influence. This group typically includes high-income earners, such as executives, entrepreneurs, and professionals with substantial financial resources. The elite class is often associated with economic power, access to exclusive opportunities, and the ability to influence economic and political decisions.
And while elitists’ voices are few, they drown out the voices of average Americans. The significant gap lies between an out-of-touch elite and ordinary Americans, turning politics into an us-vs-them game that the average citizen can’t win.
This divide is outlined in fresh polling by Scott Rasmussen’s RMG Research for the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. For over a year, Rasmussen has been intrigued by conflicting data from a subset of Americans. He defines this group as those with a postgraduate degree, earning over $150,000 annually, and residing in densely populated areas. Last fall, Rasmussen conducted two surveys of “elites,” comparing their views to those of everyone else.
The results were less than surprising. Within the elite group, 74% believe their financial situations are improving, contrasting sharply with only 20% of other voters sharing the same sentiment. Among Ivy League graduates within the elite, an even higher percentage, 88%, express optimism about their finances. Eighty-four percent of polled elites strongly support President Biden, while the average American gives him a failing grade of 41%.
The divide doesn’t end there, and it only gets more nauseating. In the name of climate change, two-thirds of the elite class endorse bans on gas stoves, gasoline-powered cars, and non-essential air travel. An alarming 77% want to take it further and impose “strict rationing of gas, meat, and electricity” to combat climate change. Only 28% of average Americans would support resource rationing.
More than 70% of average voters are unwilling to pay one cent more than $100 annually for climate-related measures. In comparison, 70% of elites are willing to pay from $250 annually and up to “any amount it takes” to fight climate change.
The elite feel that the average American has too much control over their lives. While 60% of average Americans think the government has too much control, nearly half of the elites polled said that the United States provides “too much freedom” for its citizens.
Nearly two-thirds of these respondents said they would support a candidate who advocates for allowing only “educational professionals” to instruct children in school while completely removing parents from their children’s education. It makes sense for the ruling class, who holds an 89% favorable view of university professors. Seventy-eight percent of those polled hold a favorable view of union leaders, and another 78% hold a positive view of lawyers.
A jaw-dropping 70% of elite respondents hold a favorable view of Congress.
At one time, Republicans were considered the party of the elite. However, with the progressive push for money-motivated agendas such as climate change, that balance has shifted. Democrats are now the elite, and they don’t play by the same rules they impose on average Americans.
Democrats don’t understand why so many conservatives support former President Donald Trump. It’s almost like they’re unaware of the daily struggle regular folks all over the country face. But Trump is leading a quiet, nonviolent revolution that might, in 2024, snatch power from the small elite class and give it back to the majority—regular Americans who are stuck footing the bill for the big dreams of the wealthy and powerful.