House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy slammed President Biden on Wednesday over skyrocketing gas prices across the country.
McCarthy (R-Calif.) told The Post, “Americans are paying more in Biden’s America. The cost of gasoline has surged to the highest price since 2014, a time when Biden was last serving in office. President Biden’s disastrous energy policies have decimated American energy independence and increased costs for the American people.
“Rather than bragging about saving you just 16 cents at your barbecue, President Biden should recognize that his socialist policies are driving up costs for millions of Americans families.”
Americans are facing sticker shock at the pump as gas prices soared this week to a seven-year high. Since the start of the year, drivers have endured a 40% cost increase when filling up, with AAA reporting a gallon of fuel has hit $3.13.
The jump in cost for consumers reflects the spike in the global price of oil, which reached its own six-year high in July. OPEC and its global partners failed this week to reach an agreement on oil production going forward. The talks, which aimed to calm the market, have been postponed indefinitely.
Meanwhile, Americans are on the road again after driving took a steep tumble during the lockdowns of 2020. Some 43.6 billion Americans were expected to travel this past 4th of July weekend, the vast majority on the roads. Overall they are driving 40% more than a year ago.
Upon taking office, one of Biden’s first actions was to cancel the Keystone pipeline project, a move that Republicans argued would lead to higher gas prices and hamper efforts at energy independence.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki addressed the issue Tuesday, saying, “The president wants Americans to have access to affordable and reliable energy, including at the pump.” She went on to add that “our team is constantly monitoring gas prices and directly communicating with OPEC parties to get to a deal and allow proposed production increases to move forward.”
According to GasBuddy petroleum analysis head Patrick De Haan, “with imbalances in supply and demand continuing, motorists will continue digging deeper to pay for gasoline as prices are likely headed nowhere but up.”
That is bad news for drivers looking for summer getaways, and for Biden, whose efforts to stabilize gas prices thus far in his presidency have failed to protect consumers.
