Savannah Hulsey Pointer, FISM News
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President Joe Biden has received criticism for his assertion that it is time for gas stations to lower their prices. The president’s comment caused Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos to respond that the White House had bigger problems than just gas prices to worry about.
In a tweet on Saturday, Biden said, “This is a time of war and global peril,” and demanded the companies lower gasoline prices, which have soared to about $5 a gallon in many parts of the country.
“Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product. And do it now,” the president said.
My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril.
Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product. And do it now.
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 2, 2022
Bezos retweeted the comment, saying: “Ouch. Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this. It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics.”
Ouch. Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this. It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics. https://t.co/XgKfEICZpk
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) July 3, 2022
According to a report by CNBC, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pushed back against the remark by Bezos, arguing that the White House was working on a real issue since oil dropped around $15 a barrel in the last month and gas prices had “barely” moved in response:
“Oil prices have dropped by about $15 over the past month, but prices at the pump have barely come down. That’s not ‘basic market dynamics.’ It’s a market that is failing the American consumer,” Jean Pierre said. “But I guess it’s not surprising that you think oil and gas companies using market power to reap record profits at the expense of the American people is the way our economy is supposed to work.”
But I guess it’s not surprising that you think oil and gas companies using market power to reap record profits at the expense of the American people is the way our economy is supposed to work.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) July 3, 2022
National Security Council spokesman at the White House, John Kirby, also responded to Bezos’ statement saying in an interview on Fox News Sunday that the White House takes “great exception at the idea that this is somehow misdirection,” according to Fortune.
Gas is currently slightly off the record high of $5.01, coming in at $4.81 on Sunday, however previous statements from Biden have Americans concerned that the price of gas won’t be at a reasonable level anytime soon.
Biden said Thursday that Americans will have to cope with high gas prices “as long as it takes” during the conflict between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine while speaking at a NATO summit press conference in Madrid.
As a stop-gap measure, Biden called on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for three months to help with the economic burden consumers are facing, but he is receiving a cold response, even from his own party, on that front.
A new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll indicated that the large majority of the country, or around 70% of Americans, including 43% of Democrats, now disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy.
Biden recently told the Associated Press that he is aware he is being blamed for the increase in gas prices, and for nearly 80% of Americans, including 67% of Democrats, that is the case. When the AP asked Biden who he believed was really responsible he said, “If it’s my fault, why is it the case in every other major industrial country in the world that inflation is higher? You ask yourself that,” he said. “I’m not being a wise guy.”