A majority of American voters don’t think President Joe Biden is cracking down on Russia over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, a new poll showed on Monday.
Just 36 percent of respondents to a new poll by the Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research said the president’s response to Putin was “about right.”
56 percent said Biden was “not tough enough,” and six percent believe he was “too tough” on the Eastern European nuclear power.
A majority of Americans also seem concerned that the bloody and brutal conflict will spill over into the United States. Three quarters are at least somewhat concerned that Russia could attack the US with nuclear weapons.
85 percent of voters surveyed said they were very, very or somewhat concerned that the country could be drawn into a war with Russia. A majority, 47 percent, indicated the greatest concern.
The proportion of those who are not worried at all about a fight with Moscow is significantly lower at 15 percent.
The poll comes a day after Biden returned from a trip to Europe where he attended an extraordinary summit of NATO leaders and a meeting of the European Council to discuss Putin’s attack.
A majority of people don’t think Biden is tough enough on Russia, a new poll shows
The poll came just two days after Biden, in an emotionally charged moment during a speech in Poland, said Putin could not stay in power
Moscow’s invasion began just over a month ago, on February 24th. Since then, Russian troops have been bombing Ukrainian cities and have been accused of war crimes for their ruthless slaughter of civilians.
The poll was conducted March 17-21 and began the same day Biden called Putin a “war criminal.”
On Saturday, during a speech in Warsaw, he alarmed foreign policy experts when he declared the Russian autocrat “cannot stay in power” after an emotional day meeting Ukrainian refugees and aid workers.
As Biden concluded his visit to Poland, a NATO country, Ukrainian officials accused Russia of firing multiple rockets from Crimea, the territory Moscow annexed from Kyiv in 2014, toward the western city of Lviv.
Lviv is less than 400 km from Warsaw and about 60 km from the Polish border.
Amid fears that Russia will soon use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana told the Associated Press that the defense alliance “stands ready to respond appropriately.”
But Monday’s poll shows an apparently growing concern that such weapons could also be used in the United States.
Monday’s poll also shows heightened concerns about a direct conflict between the US and Russia, although the Biden administration rules out the possibility of a unilateral fight
A majority of Americans also fear at least a little the possibility that Russia could use its vast nuclear arsenal against the United States – more believe it will be used against Ukraine
A Ukrainian soldier walks in the village of Mala Rogan east of Kharkiv after Ukrainian troops retook the village on March 28
Forty-five percent of respondents said they were extremely or very concerned that Russia would use nuclear weapons against the United States. Thirty percent are “somewhat concerned” and only a quarter see no likely threat.
A 61 percent majority say nuclear power against Ukraine is very likely, followed by 26 percent who say they are “somewhat concerned” about it.
Despite heightened concerns about a possible conflict, voters also appear unanimous in support of a tougher response to Russia.
When asked what the “greater priority” should be for the Biden administration, 55 percent of respondents said it should “sanction Russia as effectively as possible, even if it hurts the US economy.”
Fewer voters, 42 percent, supported “limiting the damage to the US economy, even if it means sanctions on Russia are less effective.”
Russia’s invasion has already thrown the global energy supply chain into chaos, driving up prices at the pump in the US and Europe.
Halyna Falko looks on at the destruction wrought after a Russian attack at her home near Brovary on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday March 28th
Despite their concerns about soaring gas prices, a majority of Americans said they were willing to endure the financial burden of tougher sanctions on Russia
It adds financial strain to an already precarious situation on many Americans’ wallets. Consumer prices rose 7.9 percent year-on-year in February, according to the latest data from the Department of Labor.
The price of petrol alone shot up by 38 percent.
A whopping 88 percent of voters who responded to Monday’s poll said they were at least somewhat concerned about the impact of rising gas prices. 68 percent said they were extremely or very concerned.
However, it’s also an area where Biden is taking a pause — 55 percent of voters believe the increased prices at the pump are “more likely due to factors beyond Biden’s control.” Only 44 percent blamed the president’s policies.
It comes after an NBC News poll released on Sunday asked respondents “how much confidence” they have in Biden’s ability to direct Russia’s brutal attack.
The largest proportion – 44 percent – said they had “very little” trust in the president, while 27 percent had “just some” trust in him, making the total 71 percent.
Just 28 percent of Americans polled said they shared “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of support for Biden’s handling of Ukraine — a far cry from the confidence the president, through decades of foreign policy experience, wanted to instill in the Senate.
It comes after an NBC News poll on Sunday showed fewer Americans have faith in Biden to handle the crisis in Eastern Europe than those who believe in him
A large number of respondents to the NBC poll also believe that the US will be at war with Russia in the next year
And a majority of people seem to believe that Biden’s actions to date have put the country on a path to direct conflict with Russia, despite the US’s declared preferred policy of de-escalation through diplomacy.
Sixteen percent of Americans said they believe their nation is already at war with Russia based on how Biden and his officials have handled the crisis. A whopping 44 percent said the devastating conflict “will happen within the next year.”
Only 34 percent were confident that the US would not become involved in a war with Moscow.
Biden himself has repeatedly insisted that American troops will not unilaterally confront Russian ones, even rejecting Ukraine’s request for a no-fly zone over its territory amid fears a major war could break out.
But 74 percent of poll respondents say they don’t take the president at his word about US boots in Ukraine.
More than eight in 10 respondents also said they fear such a conflict would lead to nuclear war, and 83 percent are concerned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will increase the cost of goods and services here at home, including gasoline will.