Democrats’ inflation anger boils over with Biden abroad: The Note

The TAKE with Rick Klein

Inflation is low-hanging political fruit for Republicans amid everyday reminders -- underscored by weekly and monthly data drops -- that show prices spiraling while policy solutions are fleeting.

But what might be as telling this week, with President Joe Biden in the Middle East for a high-profile foreign trip, is what some Democrats are saying about the rising cost of goods that’s clearly not transitory and also seemingly not lifting itself from voters’ minds in time for the midterms.

It’s not just Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who fired another shot across progressive bows with a new declaration -- in the context of ongoing talks with the White House -- that “no matter what spending aspirations some in Congress may have ... we cannot add any more fuel to this inflation fire.”

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio -- a member of the majority party in the House who hopes to join the Senate majority next year -- called the latest inflation numbers “awful” in a video posted from the campaign trail: “People are getting absolutely crushed. We need a tax cut now.”

Pennsylvania's Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, also currently in elected office and also looking to join the Senate, said: “We need bold action NOW to make more s--- in America, fix our broken supply chains, and take on corporate greed to bring down the cost of everything, for everyone.”

Those three Democrats share something of an everyman profile and also hail from states where Democrats may need to work extra hard to make working-class connections. It’s a brand of politics that isn’t all that foreign to “Scranton Joe,” though.

Biden’s White House statement called the latest inflation “unacceptably high” -- but also “out-of-date,” citing gas prices and commodities that have fallen sharply in recent weeks.

High prices remain an issue that’s virtually impervious to spin. More Democrats appear to be coming to that conclusion, with or without the White House.

The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper

On his first trip to the Middle East as commander in chief, Biden is already raising eyebrows with one exchange.

Due to a COVID-19 surge in Israel, the president avoided close contact with Israeli officials upon his arrival. He offered fist bumps instead of handshakes to all but one person -- Benjamin Netanyahu, former prime minister and current leader of the opposition party. The pair appeared chummy as they shared a drawn-out handshake on-camera.

In an attempt to stay above the political fray, Biden is slated to meet Thursday with both current Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Netanyahu as Israelis prepare to vote come November in the fifth election since 2019.

Netanyahu, despite corruption and bribery charges he denies, is aiming to return to power. Many consider “Bibi” a favorite over Lapid.

A major focus of Biden's trip is strengthening ties between Israel and other nations in the region -- regardless of who holds the title of prime minister. If Netanyahu takes power, Biden would have a familiar partner in efforts to forge those connections to confront challenges like the threat of the Iran nuclear program, the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine and competing with China.

The TIP with Alisa Wiersema

The specter of 2024 continues to loom over Florida as another high-profile Democrat finds himself in the spotlight amid the battleground state’s evolving midterm campaigns.

Although Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker insists he is solely focused on his current reelection campaign, his national star is on the rise amid the fallout of the deadly Fourth of July shooting in Highland Park as well as his state grappling with an influx of abortion-seeking patients upon the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

This weekend, Pritzker is slated to deliver remarks at the annual Leadership Blue Gala hosted by the Florida Democratic Party. He was invited to speak at the event in April by Florida Democratic Party Chairman Manny Diaz. In the lead-up to this weekend’s remarks, Pritzker has been stumping for pro-abortion gubernatorial candidates across the country including incumbent Democratic Govs. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Tim Walz, Gretchen Whitmer and others, as well as gubernatorial candidates Maura Healey of Massachusetts and Tom Sherman of New Hampshire.

“Florida is in dire need of a pro-choice, Democratic governor, and Governor Pritzker is proud to support the Florida Democratic Party in their efforts to flip the state blue. As a lifelong Democrat, Governor Pritzker is committed to supporting his party in every corner of our country. If the governor can play even a small role in helping Florida Democrats elect a Black woman to the US Senate, flip the governor’s office, and elect pro-choice, pro-science, pro-worker candidates to the legislature––he will gladly do so,” Pritzker campaign spokesperson Natalie Edelstein told ABC News.

Pritzker’s comments will come just weeks after California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom took a swipe of his own at Florida’s GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, by running an ad in Florida over the Fourth of July weekend that invited potentially frustrated voters to move to Newsom’s home state instead -- a stunt DeSantis shrugged off.

During a Wednesday speech in Washington, D.C., Newsom also took aim at Florida’s Republican-backed Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay" bill, which puts limits on how classrooms can teach about sexual orientation and gender, ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd reports. In a gaggle with reporters after the remarks, Newsom said that he supports President Biden and that Biden should run for re-election in 2024.

NUMBER OF THE DAY, powered by FiveThirtyEight

39. That’s the percentage of Americans who approve of Biden’s job performance, according to FiveThirtyEight’s presidential approval tracker. And as FiveThirtyEight’s Geoffrey Skelley writes, that is now the worst approval rating of any elected president at this point in the presidency since the end of World War II. Read more from Geoffrey on why Biden’s approval rating is so abysmal.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. "Start Here" begins Thursday morning with ABC’s Alexis Christoforous on the latest inflation surge and what it means for the economy. Then, we speak with a woman who takes methotrexate and is now facing new barriers in getting her medicine after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. And, ABC’s James Longman explains the latest news from Ukraine. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

• At 9 a.m. ET, the House Judiciary Committee will convene for a hearing to examine individual freedoms after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
• At 10:15 a.m. ET the Senate Homeland Security hearing on "protecting the homeland from unmanned aircraft systems."

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The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the day's top stories in politics. Please check back Friday for the latest.