This can only come from President Joe Biden. As gas prices at the pump hit a new high on Monday, Biden celebrated the record price rise calling it "an incredible transition" away from fossil fuels, and every American should experience this. Understandably, Biden is in no mood to accept that soaring gas prices have now created a serious problem for millions of Americans.
Instead, the president said that his administration, rather than increasing prices, has actually taken initiatives that have helped "keep it from getting worse — and it's bad." Biden made the statement on gas prices during a joint press conference with Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday.
Misinformed Biden
The new nationwide average is just about $4.60 per gallon, which is the highest level ever recorded by the AAA's gas price tracker, according to a Daily Mail report. All 50 states now have a median gas price above $4. During an interview with a local Fox affiliate, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said it's expected to stay there "through this year."
However, Biden remains unmoved and instead celebrated the record high prices as "an incredible transition."
"[When] it comes to the gas prices, we're going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it's over, we'll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over," Biden said during the press conference in Japan.
In some places of the country, such as California, the average price of normal gas reached $6.06 on Monday.
Biden also said that his government has taken initiatives to keep gas prices from rising even further, including the release of 1 million barrels of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
"The price of gas at the pump is something that I told you — you heard me say before — it would be a matter of great discussion at my kitchen table when I was a kid growing up," Biden said before admitting, "It's affecting a lot of families."
Gas Prices Pinching Pockets
Gas prices have been on the rise for quite some time now, which has been a major cause of concern among millions of Americans. While dealing with mounting costs, the White House is also bracing for volatility in diesel fuel prices, which set a new high last week.
Fuel prices were already growing as the economy recovered from the COVID-19 epidemic, but things worsened after a steep jump in prices resulted from Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine which disrupted the global energy supply chain earlier this year.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the US and several of its Western allies cut off all imports of Russian oil and gas. This has now led to an acute global gas crisis.
To combat this, Biden announced the release of 180 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which his government claims will lower gasoline prices "come down fairly significantly."
However, during Monday's press conference the president did admit that the US economy has "problems," warning that it will be "a haul" and "take some time" to recover.
Republicans slammed Biden on social media, accusing him of relishing rising gas costs while Democrats continue to push for a radical environmental agenda. "Democrats are celebrating the higher gas prices Americans are paying," the National Republican Congressional Committee tweeted.
And if surging gas prices wasn't enough, the Biden administration is now faced with another problem, that of soaring diesel prices.
