President Joe Biden drew criticism and mockery Monday after posting a graphic touting the recent decrease in gas prices to his official Twitter feed.
The graphic informs viewers that “at current prices, the average driver will spend $35 less per month per one peson [sic] or $70 less per month for a family with two cars than they would if gas prices stayed at their peak.” (RELATED: Fed Chair Cuts The Legs Off Biden’s ‘Putin Price Hike’ Spin)
Gas prices have fallen to $4.35 on average across the country, according to AAA data. That price is 66 cents off the mid-June high average price of $5.01, AAA’s highest-ever recorded average price. Biden and his administration took considerable flak for routinely framing the hike in gas prices as “Putin’s price hike.”
Hundreds of online commenters jumped on the graphic, highlighting that current prices remain higher than they were when Biden assumed the presidency, the impacts of inflation and the inconsistencies in the administration’s messaging. (RELATED: White House Slowly Imploding Over Biden’s Lackluster Messaging: REPORT)
The messaging exercise here is hilarious.
It’s like raising the price of a car $10,000, knocking off $200 and calling it a HUGE SALE that customers should be grateful for. https://t.co/eHHsy4llwg
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) July 25, 2022
Fixed it for you. #NHPolitics #NH01 https://t.co/yASofWcvYI pic.twitter.com/GGWClH8RQ2
— Matt Mowers (@mowers) July 25, 2022
Not only are their comms people bad, but their graphics person is terrible. https://t.co/sUhGngBhfD
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) July 25, 2022
Who at the White House ever thinks these graphics are a good messaging strategy?
This completely ignores the obvious: gas prices are WAY up since Biden took office.
Gas price average Jan 2021: $2.42
Gas price average July 2022: $4.35 https://t.co/fRpzTe1Poo— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) July 25, 2022
I am once again asking the Biden administration to stop personally attacking me with these horrifically bad infographics https://t.co/grgejGNOPy
— Katherine Mangu-Ward (@kmanguward) July 25, 2022
But on the downside, the looming recession is why prices have come down… https://t.co/bZNigTZGSU
— Sara Eisen (@SaraEisen) July 25, 2022
Why haven’t they deleted this yet https://t.co/XQVx5gMgqU
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 25, 2022
for one person, this $35 a month averages out to around $400 a year and they’re still getting robbed at the pump. that’s also not counting the $3,400 the average american worker has lost due to inflation. “breathing room” LOL. such a joke. https://t.co/s5zrLjNRYE
— Logan Hall (@loganclarkhall) July 25, 2022
inflation so high they can’t hire a copy editor
*person https://t.co/7PQ0R2nXNS
— Jessica O’Donnell (@heckyessica) July 25, 2022
The American family is getting repeatedly kicked in the junk, and he wants credit for the rate of junk-kicking going down because the junk-kicker got tired. https://t.co/LDkkmjKzmt
— Frank J. Fleming (@IMAO_) July 25, 2022
Oh my god lol
1. They need a proofreader!
2. The “stat” on the right is just a reiteration of the one on the left.
3. Whole premise is weird. Now tally up how much American families would’ve saved if inflation had never happened to this degree, had stayed at 2.5% https://t.co/97KYggUFMH— Liz Wolfe (@lizzywol) July 25, 2022
Biden posted the graphic ahead of a slew of key economic reports set to release this week. His administration has faced criticism for adopting an untraditional threshold for determining whether the American economy is in recession.