When gas prices in the United States were slowly heading downwards after 11 months of sharp increases, President Joe Biden was taking all the credit. Now that they’re hitting record highs, however, he insists he has no control over the price at the pump.
Earlier this week, Biden said he “can’t do much right now about” gas prices.
“Russia is responsible,” he added.
The national average of a price of a gallon of gas hit $4.33 on Friday, a record high. That capped a week of record highs that began with $4.17 a gallon on Tuesday.
Joe Biden says prices are "gonna go up…" and "Can’t do much right now. Russia’s responsible."
He sounds like every kid who’s blamed their sibling for something they both did. Sorry @JoeBiden but you’re responsible for not unleashing American energy NOW! pic.twitter.com/JQQ7kBJpXU
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) March 8, 2022
Biden’s supposed powerlessness in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — which caused the U.S. to ban Russian oil imports — was a lot different from the tune Biden was singing in December, however.
On Dec. 21, Biden bragged he “was able to bring [gas prices] down 12 cents a gallon,” according to Fox News.
He said the price “will come down more, I believe.”
At this point, gas was around $3.30, still markedly higher than when Biden took office.
⛽This is a Biden price hike.
Don't be fooled by this Administration's Washington spin. Gas prices have been increasing under @POTUS since the day he took office.
Biden’s anti-energy policies have slashed U.S. energy production. pic.twitter.com/baN8Q1pT6z
— Oversight Committee Republicans (@GOPoversight) March 9, 2022
Earlier in that month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee received backlash for a tweet of a graph that showed a trivial downturn in prices — only two cents over a two-week period — along with the the text, “Thanks, @JoeBiden.”
Thanks, @JoeBiden. pic.twitter.com/0iHwTLv7fB
— DCCC (@dccc) December 2, 2021
Even The Washington Post called it “the worst defense of the Biden administration yet.
— Abigail Marone 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) December 2, 2021
Neither Biden nor the DCCC seems particularly interested in recycling these arguments now, however.