Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) insists that President Joe Biden “can’t hide” from high gas prices despite his efforts to blame “anyone” else.
During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday, Barrasso, the third highest-ranking Senate Republican, said, “Joe Biden can’t hide from the fact that he is the president of high gas prices.”
“And they’re looking for anyone to blame, whether it’s Putin, whether it’s Republicans, whether it’s the energy companies, whether it’s Covid. The Democrats have a very big problem with 40-year high inflation, [the] highest gas prices ever,” he continued.
Finally, Barrasso said, “When Joe Biden came into office, it was $2.38 a gallon for gasoline. American families paid $1,000 more for energy last year than the year before.”
Watch the video below:
Sen. John Barrasso: “Joe Biden can't hide from the fact that he is the president of high gas prices. And they're looking for anyone to blame, whether it's Putin, whether it's Republicans, whether it's the energy companies, whether it's COVID.” https://t.co/Us1UAjmaCV pic.twitter.com/A0F3xtn0Lq
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 21, 2022
Barrasso’s comments come as the national average price of gas sits at $4.25 a gallon, according to AAA. That is up roughly 70 cents from a month ago, before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, and $1.37 from a year ago.
Conservatives claim that the Biden administration is carrying out a “war on American energy” that precipitated the surge in gas prices. However, The Washington Post’s fact-checker Glenn Kessler notes that there is little evidence the president’s policies constrained domestic oil production.
Still, Kessler added, “The U.S. government can have the effect of shaping market perceptions that on the margins can affect prices.”
Biden has pointed to Russia’s invasion and raised the prospect that oil companies were trying to pad their profits as a reason for higher gas prices.
He told House Democrats earlier this month, “Don’t let anybody tell you anything you did supporting the idea that we block Russian oil coming into the country — and I said at the time prices are going to go up for gasoline — it wasn’t anything we did.”