White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was blasted by Republicans and other critics after she claimed without evidence or justification that the GOP wants to raise gasoline prices on Americans.
Her remarks come after gas prices hit records last year following several policy decisions made by President Joe Biden seen as hostile to the fossil fuel industry. At one point, gasoline prices averaged about $5 per gallon and hit more than $7 per gallon in some places, including California. Prices have dropped dramatically since then but remain higher, on average, than the roughly $2.30 per gallon level when former President Donald Trump left office.
“As many of you are tracking this week, House Republicans will vote to raise gas prices on American families. The contrast in priorities could not be more stark, but the president spent the last two years, as you know, doing everything he could to lower gas prices for American families,” she began a press conference on Monday.
“And prices are down about $1.60 a gallon since last summer. Now, House Republicans are using their narrow majority to force the American people to pay higher gas prices, just as big oil companies are amassing record profits,” she added.
WATCH:
Republicans and other critics of the regime pounced immediately.
“Press sec mad libs,” Sen. Ted Cruz adviser Omri Ceren tweeted.
Press sec mad libs. https://t.co/PsppQQ3vO5
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) January 23, 2023
Newsbusters executive editor Tim Graham quipped, “’Independent fact-checkers’ napping again?”
“She did not just say this… your boss has been gashing us at the pump for months,” Townhall.com senior analyst Matt Vespa added.
“They somehow manage to get more shameless by the day,” said conservative writer Doug Powers.
“She’s just not very good at her job,” RedState columnist Buzz Patterson noted.
Added deputy spokesman for Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Chad Gilmartin: “Americans paid record high gas prices under Biden and Pelosi. House Republicans’ bill this week promotes more American energy production. I guess Biden would rather beg for oil overseas…”
Fox News added:
Jean-Pierre has frequently attempted to tout falling gas prices as a win for the Biden administration, even when gas prices were still higher than $4 a gallon in many states. In what many saw as an embarrassing example in July, Jean-Pierre appeared in a video on the official White House Twitter to boast about falling gas prices while attacking oil companies.
“So while oil prices have decreased by about 20% since their June peak, as I was just talking about earlier, prices at the pump have only fallen about 10% over the same period. So that means profits are up way above average. Refiners’ profit margins per gallon of gas are averaging about 90 cents last week, roughly double what’s typical for this time of the year,” Jean-Pierre said.
At the time, the average price for a gallon of gas was around $4.40.
During Monday’s press conference, Jean-Pierre also hit on a well-worn Democratic talking point — claiming the House Republican majority sought to raise taxes on middle class workers while offering “the rich” tax cuts.
