One other way to fight inflation is to find popular ways to pay for increased spending, including spending on the fight against crime. Biden’s 2023 budget includes a 20 percent minimum income tax on households worth more than $100 million. In 2015-16, there were 5,000 such households out of the 126 million households in the United States, or around 0.004 percent.

Biden should be broadcasting that approach. The super-rich need to pay their fair share of taxes. The country needs a populist message that keys on sharing society’s burdens rather than on dividing us geographically, educationally, ethnically or racially.

There is time to correct course on Biden’s popularity before November. He should make full use of the opportunity that bad news on crime and inflation provide.