As Republicans are blaming his administration for the rise in gas prices, President Biden turned to The Washington Post and The New York Times for support of his energy policy.
Biden made remarks at the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference and claimed that Russia President Vladimir Putin was a major reason for record-high inflation. He also blamed the skyrocketing gas prices on his geopolitical rival, despite having been plagued by these issues since long before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Biden stated that gasoline prices in January rose 75 cents after he deployed his 150,000 troops to the Ukrainian border. “And Putin began to amass troops along the border, and guess what? The world noticed. People who have worked in the industry know that pricing went up because the market anticipated it. Putin then invaded. It is clear that Putin is responsible for the inflation.
Republicans were chastised by the president, who said he “loves” when they mention his halting of the Keystone XL Pipeline and why energy prices have risen.
“Folks let’s get straight here. Two years had passed before the Keystone Pipeline became reality. It was 2% complete. Biden gave a break to the crowd, causing some laughter.
Biden pulled out sheets of paper and read a headline in the Times fact-checker, which stated, “Republicans wrongly accuse Biden for rising gasoline prices.” He also quoted a Post editorial by Dana Milbank, which stated that Biden had ignored the pleas of Republicans to ban Russian oil. They pounced.
“Don’t allow anyone to tell you what you did to support the idea that we blocked Russian oil from entering the country – I stated at the time that prices will go up for gasoline. Biden assured the Democrats that it wasn’t something they did.
The Times conducted a thorough “fact check” of GOP lawmakers that have pinned the blame for the high cost of energy on the Biden government.
“As gasoline prices reached a high point this week, top Republican lawmakers took the airwaves to Congress with misleading claims that placed the blame on President Biden’s energy policies,” Linda Qiu, Times fact-check reporter for the Times, wrote Wednesday. While Republican lawmakers supported the ban they claimed that the pain at pump was long before the conflict in Ukraine. They claimed that gas price increases were due to Mr. Biden’s cancellation and temporary halt to new drilling leases on public lands, as well as the surrendering of energy independence’ — all false assertions.
Milbank of the Post blasted Republicans for asking Biden to ban Russian Energy. He then responded to the ban by blaming his energy policies with spiking gas prices.
Milbank wrote Wednesday that “it’s not just that the charge against Biden is bogus — The current price of gasoline has practically nothing to do with his energy policies — but that Republican officials making it are sowing division at the home and giving a rhetorical lift to the enemy at an opportune moment when national unity will be required to prevail against Russia,” before accusing Republicans that they “leap” to Putin’s defence.
The columnist wrote that Blaming Biden for the rise in prices surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not only false, but also an aid to Putin that harms national security.
