White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was recently asked about the unprecedented prices Americans have had to pay at the pump over the past several years. One reporter at a recent press briefing asked KJP about recent increases in gas prices and if Biden intends to take action.
“Gas prices, they’ve been going up over the last month 20 cents a gallon. Is the President considering any new actions like releasing more oil from the Strategic Petroleum?” the reporter asked. The Biden administration has received criticism from conservatives for draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in an attempt to lower gas prices.
The press secretary responded that she had no new updates from President Biden surrounding actions that will be taken to reduce gas prices. However, she seemingly diverted from the question, attempting to paint a more optimistic narrative surrounding the current state of gas prices.
KJP claimed that while Americans have endured pain at the pump, average gas prices have fallen from their peak in 2022. The spokeswoman also cited the job market and “clean energy manufacturing” as positive economic signs.
“So don’t have I don’t have any new actions to read out. I will say I will note that gas prices remain well below their peak back in 2022. I think that’s important. And the the average gas price right now is cheaper than this time last year, and that’s because of what this President has been doing over the last three years, including the SPR. And look, let’s not forget jobs are up, wages are up clean energy manufacturing is up all of these things are incredibly important because of this President’s historic investment that he has made. And so but I would, I think it’s important to note that it remains well below the 2022 peak,” she said.
However, the reporter noted that analyzing price differences over a longer time horizon when Biden first took office tells a much different story. Having obviously done his research, he quickly fired back at KJP, “It was only three cents lower than a year ago. It’s up 52%. From when President Biden came in office, and he then talks about changes in policy to encourage good future investment in oil and gas.”
Without providing detailed substantiation, KJP gave a general sentiment that Biden seeks to lower costs for the consumer. Jean-Pierre didn’t acknowledge this in her response, but many Americans have assigned at least some degree of blame to the Biden administration for the rise in energy costs. For example, some suggest the president’s anti-fossil fuel stances and regulations directly correlate with rising gas prices.
“The president’s committed to lowering cost he is that is something that you see at the center of every economic policy when you tear and giving remarks. He’s talking about lowering costs. He understands how the American people are still being squeezed. And so the reason that it remains below 2022. The gas prices as you’re asking me, is because of the historic investment that this President has made. So, of course, we’re going to continue to monitor and do everything that we can to answer those questions by the American people. What else can we do to lower cost, but it is important that it is cheaper. It is cheaper to get gas than it was a year ago. And that’s because of the of what this President has been doing it because of the historic investment that he’s taken,” she said.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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