During his “My Take,” Wednesday, “Varney & Co.” host Stuart Varney argued Hamas is influencing American politics and is behind the ugly antisemitism that is taking place at elite universities across the nation.

STUART VARNEY: It’s come to this. Hamas now dictates America’s Mideast policy. What a switch. 

Hamas butchers Jews, Israel forcefully responds, and now, all across America, Israel is accused of genocide. 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY’S ANTISEMITISM CHAOS PROMPTS CALLS FOR TUITION REFUNDS

That is a turnaround. Such is the power of a terrorist group inside America.

It is Hamas that is shutting down elite universities. 

The New York Police Department believes “outside agitators” are paying for those tent encampments. 

The Wall Street Journal says Hamas has been coordinating the college movement. 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY RESPONDS AFTER ROBERT KRAFT SAYS HE’S PULLING SUPPORT OVER ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE

Extraordinary, isn’t it? 

A terror group turns hostage-taking butchery into a takeover of what are supposed to be the sharpest minds in the country.

Hamas also has an influence on our politics. 

Biden has to hold on to Muslim and Arab votes, especially in swing state Michigan, so he has shifted policy. 

Right after October 7th he offered “full support” for Israel. 

Now he’s trying to stop Israel from finishing off Hamas in gaza. The shift isn’t working well. 

HAMAS IS ‘HAPPY,’ CELEBRATING BIDEN’S APPARENT SHIFT IN WAR, ISRAELI OFFICIAL WARNS

“Uncommitted” or “anyone but Biden” ballots are taking a significant chunk of primary votes. 

That’s influence. Hamas must be happy.

As of Wednesday morning, the pro-Hamas movement is gaining ground. 

There’s no retreat. Encampments and protests are springing up at colleges across the country. 

At Columbia, the desperate authorities are watching the tents go up in ever-increasing numbers. 

The school is essentially closed. Democratic politicians are under pressure. 

COLUMBIA’S BILLIONAIRE DONORS MULL GIVING AMID ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS

Demonstrators turn up to disrupt public appearances. 

Last night they were chanting outside Senator Schumer’s home in Brooklyn. 

There’s something wrong here. 

Our politics, our society, is being taken over by the ugliness of antisemitism, and Hamas is behind it.

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President Biden is losing support in key battleground states amid growing pessimism among voters about the state of the U.S. economy, according to a new poll. 

Findings published Wednesday by Bloomberg News/Morning Consult show that Biden trails former President Donald Trump in six of the seven swing states that are likely to determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. 

Biden leads the presumptive Republican nominee in just one state – Michigan, by 2 percentage points – but is behind in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina. 

The results come as poll respondents expressed a bleak view of the economy, an issue that has consistently ranked as a top priority for voters.

WHY ARE GROCERIES STILL SO EXPENSIVE?

A majority of voters in the seven swing states expect economic conditions to worsen in coming months, with fewer than 20% projecting declines in inflation and borrowing costs by the end of the year. Just 23% of respondents anticipate the employment rate will improve during that same time period.

Those figures were even lower among undecided voters, a crucial voting bloc. 

“People are really tying Bidenomics and their perception of the economy to the inflation rate,” said Matt Monday, senior manager of Morning Consult.

More than three quarters of poll respondents said the president is responsible for the current performance of the U.S. economy, and nearly half said he was “very responsible.”

The White House lauded the mostly steady decline in inflation last year, but most economists agreed that was due to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hike campaign and the resolution of supply chain disruptions, not the president’s economic agenda.

JAMIE DIMON WARNS INFLATION, INTEREST RATES MAY REMAIN ELEVATED

Since then, progress on inflation has largely flatlined. Although the consumer price index has fallen considerably from a peak of 9.1%, it remains well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. And when compared with January 2021, shortly before the inflation crisis began, prices are up a stunning 18.94%. 

On top of that, many families have yet to see material relief. Food prices are up 21% from the start of 2021, while shelter costs are up 20%, according to FOX Business calculations. Energy prices, meanwhile, are up 36.8%.

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Chronically high prices are forcing Americans to spend about $1,069 more per month than they did three years ago, before the inflation crisis began, according to a recent estimate from Moody’s Analytics.

As they spend more on everyday goods, Americans are burning through their savings, and are increasingly turning to credit cards to cover those basic expenses.

The burden is disproportionately borne by low-income Americans, whose already-stretched paychecks are heavily affected by price fluctuations. 

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A key measure of home-purchase applications fell again last week as mortgage rates rose to the highest level in five months.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) index of mortgage applications slid 2.7% for the week ended April 19, according to new data published Wednesday. 

The data also showed that the average rate on the popular 30-year loan rose to 7.24% last week. While that is down from a peak of 8% in October, it marks the highest level for interest rates since November.

“Mortgage rates continued to move higher last week, reaching their highest levels since late 2023 and putting a damper on applications activity,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist.

MORTGAGE CALCULATOR: SEE HOW MUCH HIGHER RATES COULD COST YOU

Housing demand has ground to a halt as rates move higher. Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home dropped 1% from the previous week. Application volume is down 15% compared with the same time last year.

Demand for refinancing also fell last week, tumbling 6% from the previous week, according to the survey. Compared with the same time last year, refinance applications are up just 3%.

THE COST OF BUYING A HOUSE HIT ANOTHER RECORD HIGH AS MORTGAGE RATES SPIKE AGAIN

The interest rate-sensitive housing market has cooled rapidly as a result of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive tightening campaign. Policymakers lifted the benchmark federal funds rate 11 times over the course of 16 meetings in an attempt to crush stubborn inflation and slow the economy. 

Economists predict that mortgage rates will remain elevated for the first half of 2024 and that they will only begin to fall once the Federal Reserve starts cutting rates. Even then, rates are unlikely to return to the lows seen during the pandemic. 

On top of that, investors are growing skeptical about the odds of a Fed rate hike this year given the string of hotter-than-expected inflation reports at the beginning of the year.

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Most economists now expect the cuts to begin in September amid signs that inflation remains abnormally high.

Higher mortgage rates are not only dampening consumer demand, they are limiting inventory. That is because sellers who locked in a low mortgage rate before the pandemic have been reluctant to sell with rates continuing to hover near a two-decade high, leaving few options for eager would-be buyers.

Available home supply remains down a stunning 34.3% from the typical amount before the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, according to a separate report.

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