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‘Pure Demagoguery’: CNBC Anchors Aren’t Buying Biden’s ‘Putin Price Hike’ Scheme

[Screenshot/Rumble/Fox News]

Nicole Silverio Media Reporter
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CNBC anchors were not buying into President Joe Biden’s “Putin’s Price Hike” talking point, Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson showed.

Biden warned seven major U.S. oil companies there will be a new tax on energy if they do not boost domestic output in a Wednesday letter. The letter said Russian President Vladimir Putin is “principally responsible” for the “financial pain” Americans are facing due to rising gasoline prices.

CNBC anchor Brian Sullivan read the final two lines of the letter referring to soaring oil costs as “Vladimir Putin’s Price Hike.”

“‘Vladimir Putin’s Price Hike,’ which Price Hike are both capitalized, I’m not sure why,” Sullivan said. “Putin’s mentioned five times I think, there’s your last paragraph. We’ll see how the oil and gas companies respond.”

CNBC anchor Joe Kernen blasted the Biden administration for pinning gas prices on Putin, then compared the current state of the economy to former President Jimmy Carter’s time in office.

“This is pure demagoguery, it’s not going to help the issue,” Kernen said. “It’s getting your eye off the real problems of the ruble. I lived through the Carter years. Everyday, I get a stronger sense of deja vu.”

Carlson said Carter imposed an excise tax of 70% on the value of oil sales, which led to a massive drop in domestic oil production between 1.2-8% and increased dependence on foreign oil by 13%. (RELATED: MSNBC Host Tells Biden Official That Americans See Right Through His ‘Putin Price Hike’ Spin) 

The White House first branded rising gas prices as “Putin’s Price Hike” in March after Biden announced a ban on all imports of Russian oil following the invasion of Ukraine. The term and blame for Putin has since been echoed by members of the administration, including former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield, and National Economic Council director Brian Deese.

The national average of regular gasoline prices currently sits at $5.009, while diesel costs an average of $5.786, according to AAA. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached 8.6% in May, climbing to the highest rates in four decades, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Despite the administration blaming Putin, gas prices were already on the rise since at least November, where prices surged to their highest levels since 2014. Lawmakers and media figures have consistently pushed back against the “Putin’s Price Hike” label, arguing that it was the president’s energy policies that have contributed to the continual crisis.

Lawmakers have called on Biden to reverse his revocation of the Keystone XL Pipeline that intended to carry nearly 8,000 oil barrels from Canada to Texas, and issue a moratorium allowing for American oil and gas companies to receive new federal leases. The administration has argued that there are 9,000 public leases available that are unused by oil companies.