approval ratings<\/a>, an unpopular foreign conflict and an affordability crisis that Trump and his congressional allies had promised to fix. <\/p>\nBut when Trump campaigned in North Carolina on Wednesday, he played down the impact of surging gas prices.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a little higher. It\u2019s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we\u2019ve done,” Trump said of the war, which he describes as critical to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “Remember that. It’s a little more. Frankly, even if it was a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite what Trump says, there are few things that may matter more this election year than the price of a gallon of gasoline, according to political operatives in both parties. <\/p>\n
Gas prices are moving sharply in the wrong direction at a time of year when drivers typically get some relief. The national average for a gallon of gas reached $4.48 on Friday, according to AAA, up roughly 17 cents over the last week, 40 cents in a month and $1.27 from a year ago. <\/p>\n
\u201cGas prices matter because they\u2019re one of the few economic indicators voters experience and see in real time,\u201d said veteran Republican strategist Chris Wilson. \u201cThe price is literally staring them in the face several times a week. So I wouldn\u2019t minimize the frustration we\u2019re seeing, particularly among working- and middle-class voters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interviews with voters this week found bipartisan frustration and disappointment.<\/p>\n
Democrats and independents were especially motivated to punish Republicans at the ballot box for their economic hardship, while some of Trump’s working-class supporters pledged to support Republicans this fall, even if they weren’t happy with the president’s leadership on the economy. <\/p>\n
Dan Lloyd, who voted for Trump, lamented the president’s leadership as the 63-year-old carpenter paid $4.39 a gallon to fill up his pickup truck in Mesa, Arizona.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hurt himself stepping into this,\u201d Lloyd said of Trump. \u201cWhere\u2019s all this oil from Venezuela? I thought we were flush with gas and everything, but no. The American people eat it every time, whether it\u2019s interest rates, food, gasoline.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, he expects to vote Republican in the midterms.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the Democratic Party has lost its way,\u201d Lloyd said. “I just feel like the whole system\u2019s on the verge of collapse.\u201d <\/p>\n
In sweltering Edinburg, Texas, 52-year-old Kristin Jimenez shrugged off the rising price of gas after filling up her Mercedes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve paid the same price under Republican presidents, we\u2019ve paid this price under Democrat presidents,\u201d said Jimenez, a mother who runs a small business. She plans to vote for a Republican in because they\u2019re the \u201clesser of two evils.\u201d <\/p>\n
She said gas prices aren\u2019t part of her calculation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t mind paying $8 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, but we have a problem paying four bucks at the pump?\u201d she said. \u201cMake it make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 1,500 miles to the north in central Michigan, 35-year-old Garth Johnson is trying to make ends meet running a deep-cleaning business with several gas-powered vehicles and one machine fueled by diesel, which was $6.79 a gallon as he filled up his SUV. <\/p>\n
Johnson voted for Trump, but doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s going to do in November. Johnson doesn\u2019t feel qualified to second-guess the president\u2019s evaluation of the war, but he’s feeling financial pressure in his own life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like a lot of the things he\u2019s done,\u201d Johnson said, but added \u201cI\u2019m a little guy and I\u2019ve got to live my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Midterm voting was already underway on Friday in Virginia, where 60-year-old engineer Alan Johnson said Trump seems to have \u201cno empathy\u201d for Americans who are struggling financially.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the gas prices being what they are and continuing to grow, we\u2019ve got to do something. Hopefully the Democrats can get into office and turn the ship around,\u201d said Johnson, who cast ballots in the morning for Democrats for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House.<\/p>\n
In Raleigh, North Carolina, teacher Brittney Bivins sees surging gas prices as evidence that Trump and his Republican Party aren’t dealing with the issues that matter most to people like her. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe really doesn\u2019t care about everyday people,\u201d the 45-year-old said. \u201cHe can afford the gas, but most of us can\u2019t. So it feels like he\u2019s not even connected to his own people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bivins, who described herself as an independent, said she’s eager to support Democrats this fall \u2014 especially the party’s emerging democratic socialist wing. <\/p>\n
At a gas station in Lansing, Michigan, Rina Risper spent $50 on 8 gallons of premium gas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I rolled up I was in shock, actually, and said, well, maybe I should drink water instead of having that $4.99 bottle of whatever it was I was gonna get,\u201d Risper said. She thinks Trump’s tariffs will make affordability even worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not in Miami. We\u2019re in Lansing, Michigan,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really going to impact our people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nationwide, more than three times as many voters say they are falling behind financially as getting ahead, according to a Fox News survey released Wednesday. By a 15 percentage point margin, Democrats are considered the party that would better handle inflation and prices at a time when the cost of living and the economy are voters\u2019 top concerns.<\/p>\n
The Fox poll found that 61% of voters say gas prices are a major problem for their household, compared with 48% two years ago, while 52% say the same for healthcare costs, compared with 44% in 2024. Majorities also view housing costs and grocery prices as major problems, although neither has increased.<\/p>\n
Overall, nearly two-thirds of voters (63%) say the administration has made the economy worse, compared with 52% in September 2025, including one-quarter of Republicans. Only 46% of Republicans say the administration has improved the economy, while about one-quarter don\u2019t see an impact.<\/p>\n
Back in rural South Texas, an area where Trump’s GOP made gains in recent elections, Martinez, the Amazon delivery driver, could not contain his frustration. <\/p>\n
Trump \u201clikes to tout that we are the best economy in the world,\u201d said Martinez, but in more rural towns, \u201cyou don\u2019t see any of the winning, you don\u2019t see any of the ups that he\u2019s talking about.” <\/p>\n
“You just see struggles for day to day life,” he said.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Peoples reported from New York and Cooper from Mesa, Ariz. Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed in Raleigh, N.C., Jacqueline GaNun in Lansing, Mich., Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Va., and Nicholas Riccardi in Mason, Mich., contributed to this report. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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