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‘President Of High Gas Prices’: Sen. Barrasso Says Biden Admin ‘Is Looking For Anyone To Blame’ For Gas Price Hike

[Screenshot/Rumble/ABC News]

Nicole Silverio Media Reporter
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Republican Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso said Sunday that President Joe Biden’s administration is “looking for anyone to blame” for the gas price hike, calling him the “president of high gas prices.”

“Joe Biden can’t hide from the fact that he is the president of high gas prices and they’re looking for anyone to blame, whether it’s Putin, whether it’s Republicans, whether it’s the energy companies, whether it’s COVID,” the senator told host George Stephanopoulos. “The Democrats have a very big problem with forty-year high inflation, [and the] highest gas prices ever. When Joe Biden came into office it was $2.38 a gallon for gasoline, American families paid $1,000 more for energy last year than the year before.”

He then cited a recent Trafalgar poll that found 77% of Americans—88% of Republicans and 67% of Democrats—believe increasing domestic oil production should be a top priority of the president. Lawmakers have pressured the Biden administration to produce higher levels of domestic energy by reversing the cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and granting federal leases to oil and gas companies. (RELATED: ‘Are You Guys Just Going To Start Blaming Putin For Everything’: Doocy Presses Psaki On Inflation And Soaring Gas Prices) 

The administration has dubbed the rising gas prices “Putin Price Hike” in light of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s invasion prompted the price of crude oil to exceed $100 per barrel and the average cost of gas to reach more than $4 per gallon, the highest in U.S. history.

The administration has also pinned oil companies for not using 9,000 public leases for oil drilling. Companies have accused the administration of misleading the public on leases as they say not all pertain to oil and natural gas.

In response, the administration has pushed for a shift away from oil dependency to clean energy.

“The only way to protect the United States over the long term is to become energy independent,” Psaki said in a March 10 address. “That’s why the president has been so focused on investing in clean energy technologies so that we can rely on that, and not President Putin, to set the price of gas.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on March 7 that purchasing electric vehicles (EV) will help Americans save on rising gas prices, though the average cost of an EV stood at $56,437 in November.

The administration also imposed a ban on all Russian imports of oil to the U.S. on March 8.