Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary, recently waffled when asked by a reporter if President Joe Biden was responsible for gas prices shooting up recently after taking credit for their slight dip during the summer.
“So, it’s a lot more nuanced than that, right?” Jean-Pierre told reporter Peter Doocy, who posed the question. “Peter, you know this.”
The Biden administration press secretary pointed out the “global challenges” other countries and the United States have had to deal with since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. “There’s been the pandemic, and there’s been Putin’s war,” said Jean-Pierre.
She said the president should get credit for passing legislation, including the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, and releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. “And making sure that we were able to do everything we can to bring that cost down for American families, give them a little bit more of a breathing room. And we saw that we saw that every day this summer,” Jean-Pierre emphasized.
At the same briefing, the press secretary said there were no upcoming plans to supply additional releases of gas from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Doocy pointed out to Jean-Pierre that gas is over $5 a gallon in Oregon and Nevada and well over $6 per gallon in California and asked, “Who can afford that?”
“And we can understand that,” answered Jean-Pierre. “That’s why the president worked so hard the past several months to make sure he did everything we can to bring gas prices down.”
She continued, saying Doocy was “pulling out a couple of areas across the country” — where the highest gas prices happened to be. “We understand that there’s more work to do.”
Jean-Pierre: President’s July Saudi Arabia trip not about oil
Doocy, a Fox News reporter, also inquired about President Biden’s July trip to Saudi Arabia. The trip was blasted by relatives of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi and 9/11 families but considered by the administration to be crucial due to high gasoline prices.
Press Secretary Jean-Pierre responded, “His trip to the Middle East was not about oil. It was about America’s position in the Middle East and consultation with 12 leaders from across the region on a range of issues — similar to his summits in Asia or the Americas, and later this year with African leaders.”
Jean-Pierre called the trip “critical” and “crucial” for United States’ security continuing, “And there were plenty of examples that we laid out to all of you as to why this trip was so important.”
