Majority of Americans back Biden’s Russia oil ban including 72% of Trump voters

Two new polls show that voters overwhelmingly back President Joe Biden’s announcement that the United States will ban Russian oil imports to the United States, with even 72 per cent of former president Donald Trump’s voters backing the move.

The Wall Street Journal released a poll on Tuesday that showed 79 per cent of Americanssupport a ban on Russian oil imports as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his assault on Ukraine. Similarly, 77 per cent of Republicans, including 72 per cent of Republicans who say they will back Mr Trump if he runs again in 2024, said they support the ban.

The Journal surveyed 529 registered voters between 4 March and 7 March asking “Would you favor or oppose the US imposing new sanctions on Russia by banning the sale of Russian oil to the US, even if you knew it would cause US energy prices to increase?” The margin of error was plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

Quinnipiac University released the poll on Monday surveying 1,374 adults in the United States between 4 March and 6 March and had a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.

The poll found that 71 per cent of Americans would support a ban on Russian oil even if it meant higher prices at the gas pump, with 62 per cent of Republicans and 82 per cent of Democrats supporting such a measure. In addition, 69 per cent of men and 73 per cent of women.

College educated and non-college-educated adults were split, despite a majority of both supporting a measure, with 90 per cent of college-educated American adults supporting the measure versus 74 per cent of non-college-educated American adults.

The poll also revealed a slight divide along racial lines, with 79 per cent of white people supporting a ban, compared to 59 per cent of Black adults and 61 per cent of Hispanic adults supporting a ban.

The numbers came before President Biden announced on Tuesday that the United States would ban imports of Russian oil into the United States. The words were a reversal from last week, when the White House diverged from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many Democrats in Congress.

Mr Biden said in an address that the measure was meant to “inflict further pain” on Mr Putin for Russia’s assault on Ukraine but also admitted it could lead to higher prices at home.

“The decision today is not without cost to your home — Putin’s war is already hurting American families at the gas pump. Since Putin began his military buildup ... the price of the gas of the pump in America went up 75 cents. And with this action, it is going to go up further,” he said.

But the poll showed Mr Biden’s approval ratings improve, with 38 per cent of Americans approving of his job performance and 51 per cent disapproving. That is still a negative number but it is a jump by five percentage points from January, when Quinnipiac found that 33 per cent of Americans approved of his job performance.

Mr Biden did slightly better among registered voters, with 40 per cent of registered voters approving of the job he is doing compared with 51 per cent disapproving.

The numbers are in line with an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll last week after Mr Biden delivered his State of the Union address, which saw the president’s approval rating jump eight points.