Along with Russia invading Ukraine over the past two weeks, in America, gas prices have soared an additional 70 cents since the conflict started. On Tuesday, as prices climbed over $4 a gallon, President Joe Biden admitted, “It’s going to go up [gas prices]. Can’t do much right now. Russia is responsible.” It wasn’t long after Biden placed all the blame on President Vladimir Putin before media outlets started supporting this new narrative. But while it might be easy to attack Putin, the rise in gas wasn’t an overnight crisis.
Following Biden’s statement, Reuters wrote their own article with the headline, “Biden’s political strategy on U.S. gas hikes? Blame it on Putin.” They suggested Biden “is considering a variety of options to try to blunt the impact of high pump prices but is realistic about the pain to come.”
The Hill also published a piece entitled, “Democrats look for cover on rising gas prices” which noted, “President Biden made the point of blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for the increase, calling it ‘Putin’s price hike.’” The outlet added, “Democrats believe they have some political cover because of the bipartisan backlash to Russia.”
While Putin might be the boogeyman for the Democrats, it should be noted that before the invasion, gas in America had already climbed close to a dollar since President Biden took office. During the Trump presidency, the highest Americans paid at the pump was $2.98 back in May of 2018.
Still, not siding with the facts, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) continued to blast Putin. “The notion that [Republicans] want to now come here and lecture us when Vladimir Putin is the one responsible if gas prices increase significantly here in America — Vladimir Putin — and they shouldn’t provide any aid and comfort to him.”
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell responded to the current narrative, stating, “I expect our Democratic friends will now try to blame the entire increase in prices on our efforts to punish Russia. But don’t be fooled. This was more than a year in the making.”
This piece was written by Jeremy Porter on March 10, 2022. It originally appeared in DrewBerquist.com and is used by permission.
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