In hindsight, calling everyone who questioned Joe Biden’s failed energy policy a Putin fanatic is aging about as well as a carton of milk left in an office fridge in March 2020.
It started as President Joe Biden responded to a reporter asking about record gas prices by saying “can’t do much about it … Russia is responsible.” Putting aside for a moment this is the same guy who, while campaigning for the office he now holds, proudly proclaimed “I’ll do my job and take responsibility.” Cool story bro, as the kids would say.
The White House is working overtime to deflect the role that their failed policies play in the current energy crisis. Spoiler alert: The American people are not buying it.
As the president currently “enjoys” an approval rating in the low 40s, it’s clear nearly everyone believes he shares some blame for the pain at the pump. In an ABC News poll conducted over the weekend, a whopping 70% of Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of massive gas prices. Meanwhile, American families are now spending around six percent of their entire income on gasoline alone.
Biden surrendered American energy independence, and a lot of us want him to get it back. In a CBS poll from just last week, 63% of Americans want the president to increase oil and gas production within the United States, including a majority of Republicans, Independents and Democrats. In contrast, only a third want to see Biden continue to beg for more oil from the Middle East or South America.
These results prove the public is blaming Joe Biden for the high gas prices … but only because Joe Biden is responsible for high gas prices.
Fun fact: Anyone else remember when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fell all over themselves to give Biden credit for a two cent drop in gas prices?
And there is another point for those congressional Democrats up for reelection. They may also want to think twice before hopping on Biden’s green bandwagon.
Americans don’t believe the Biden administration’s green proposals are the answer. A HarrisX poll conducted in late February found that a massive 69% of Americans want the Biden administration to “ease its focus” on climate and get to work developing energy in the United States. Just in case you thought it was a partisan issue, the same poll shows 53% of Democrats agree. However, the green “solution” pushed by the Biden administration has another problem: hypocrisy.
Nowhere else was this more evident than in the White House briefing room. As Vice President Harris, along with Secretaries Granholm and Buttigieg, condescendingly told Americans the answer to higher gas prices is to simply purchase an electric vehicle, we learned there’s more than a little green hypocrisy in the White House. Putting aside the tone-deafness of demanding families fork over tens of thousands for a new car when they’re struggling to simply afford gas, the “buy electric” strategy doesn’t even have a true believer in Biden. When asked if the president owns an electric vehicle, White House press secretary Jen Psaki unskillfully evaded. Apparently, your money is good enough for electric cars, but not Joe Biden’s.
It’s past time the White House learns their deflection defense is based on the premise that the American people won’t remember they were paying high energy prices before February. In other words, it’s a strategy built on the condescending premise that the public is stupid.
Instead, they should learn the only thing that’s stupid is their pathetic deflection defense.
Larry Behrens is the Communications Director for Power The Future, a non-profit that advocates for America’s energy workers. You can find him on Twitter @larrybehrens or you can email him: larry@powerthefuture.com