The White House is today managing the fallout from new data showing that consumer prices last year rose at their fastest clip since 1981, wiping out many of the pay rises Americans had received during the post-Covid recovery. The numbers come just as a new poll shows Joe Biden’s already low approval rating sinking to new depths.
His overall rating now stands in the low 40s, having plunged below the 50-point mark around the time of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The electorate apparently hold him in even lower esteem when it comes to his handling of specific issues like crime and immigration.
Meanwhile, Mr Biden announced new gun regulations on Monday to rein in so-called “ghost guns” – privately made firearms without serial numbers that have been used in several high-profile violent crimes.
Mr Biden also nominated Steve Dettlebach, an Obama-era US attorney, to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, making the announcement at an event in the grounds of the White House.
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