Will Kamala Harris Be Judged on Biden's Economy? It's Complicated

Almost 50 percent of Americans think the U.S. economy is in a worse state now than it was when Joe Biden took office in January 2021, according to an exclusive poll for Newsweek.

While most blame the president for how the nation's economy is faring, a significant percentage consider Kamala Harris responsible—which doesn't bode well for the Democratic nominee with less than 80 days to go before the election.

Some 41 percent of Americans surveyed by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek on August 15 said that they would describe the U.S. economy as "bad" (21 percent) or "very bad" (20 percent); a total of 36 percent described it as "good" (24 percent) or "very good" (12 percent). For 20 percent of respondents among the 1,500 eligible voters in the U.S. surveyed, the U.S. economy is neither good nor bad.

A total of 93 percent of respondents among those who found the U.S. economy to be "bad" or "very bad" thought Biden was significantly responsible for it (55 percent), fairly responsible (20 percent) or somewhat responsible (18 percent). This is nothing new for Biden, whose popularity dwindled through his presidency and who's consistently been blamed for the economy's post-pandemic troubles, despite leading a strong recovery.