Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called on President Joe Biden to “take some responsibility” for soaring gas prices at a Thursday press conference.
DeSantis argued the administration should lift the “roadblocks” that are preventing the U.S. from being energy independent, starting by building pipelines and beginning to “double down on American energy.” He argued shifting to solar energy is “not enough” to power the economy.
“We’ve got to start putting the people first over the ideology of the ruling class and the governing elites,” he said.
The governor criticized Biden’s Wednesday letter to seven major oil companies demanding they increase their refinery capacity in order to ramp up production.
“He inherited a situation that was much better. He’s made it a lot worse. But he’s now complaining about the refining capacity, you can’t get a refining capacity permit if you wanted to expand capacity. And when you say you’re going to shut down the industry, who’s going to put capital down to want to expand there when you know the federal government’s gonna try to kneecap you right out of the starting block? He needs to reverse course here, I don’t think he will.”
He argued that the “American people are paying the price” for soaring gas prices, which has exceeded a national average of $5 per gallon. He then criticized the administration for reportedly downplaying the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising 8.6% in May. (RELATED: DeSantis Says Biden ‘Is Trying To Make Excuses’ For His Low Approval Ratings)
“I get such a kick out them saying inflation was 8.6%. That was not a good number but it’s much higher when you look at the things that really count in somebody’s everyday life,” the governor said. “When you look at the gasoline, when you look at groceries, when you look at utilities. All those different things have gone up way more than 8.6% and the things that have gone up less than that are things that really aren’t as essential as things that really make a significant impact on people’s daily lives.”
“He needs to take responsibility. He’s always trying to blame other people, he’s always trying to create a scapegoat,” he continued. “I guess his position is that it wasn’t until he became president that oil companies are trying to make profits, like they’re gouging now. They weren’t doing that for the last 25 years, all of a sudden just now they’re doing that? It’s insulting to the average citizen to listen to some of this drivel coming out of the White House.”
He vowed not to allow the White House to “get away” with creating a “boogieman” to blame the continually worsening inflation rates and gas prices on and “hold him accountable.”
