Gianni Esposito speaks to an employee as another serves pizza at Gianni’s Pizza in Wilmington, Delaware on November 12, 2021. Photo/Chris STEIN/AFP
The wave of inflation that’s swept the United States this year as Covid-19 vaccines have helped businesses reopen and consumers spend has spared no part of the country — not even Wilmington, the city that has provided a backdrop for much of Biden’s political career. This year’s initial price spikes were most severe for products like used cars and airplane tickets. The latest data, however, showed them extending into groceries and gasoline, with ripple effects across the economy.
“I didn’t vote for him, but I wasn’t against him like I am now,” said Candice Gronski, 50, an accountant living just over the state line in Pennsylvania who typically votes Republican but felt like Biden nonetheless failed to meet her expectations.