Former pollster for Bill and Hillary Clinton Mark Penn slammed President Joe Biden during a Wednesday Fox News appearance, saying Biden was ignoring high gas prices, which he described as “an important factor in politics.”
Biden announced plans to auction off 14 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Wednesday, drawing criticisms from Republicans that the release was politically-motivated to lower prices before midterms. It costs an average of $3.854 to buy a gallon of gas, according to AAA, up from $3.34 a year ago.
“Even small amounts in a supply and demand market can have a significant impact on price. We’ll see what happens to the price, the projection is it was going to go up,” Penn said, speaking with Townhall columnist Katie Pavlich. “I think Katie is right in the sense these things were meant to be in conditions of war or things like [Hurricane] Katrina and I don’t think we’re going to run out of oil any day, but look, the voters aren’t stupid.” (RELATED: ‘Very Concerned’: Biden’s Top Econ Adviser Sounds The Alarm Over Record-Low Fuel Stockpiles)
“It is just before the election,” Penn continued. “It is per day, every day, before the election; they understand this is a part of a series of election-timed moves that the administration is using to put the best face on it.”
WATCH:
Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich blasted Biden, calling the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve a “scandal” and accusing the president of using the reserve “for political purposes.”
“When I worked with President Clinton, we had a $2 a gallon trip wire. If it got above $2, we would do everything within our power to bring it down,” Penn said. “I don’t know where the trip wire is in this administration, but it is an important factor in politics, an important factor in this particular election.”
The White House referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to comments Biden made after his announcement.
“It’s not politically motivated at all,” Biden said in response to a reporter’s question.
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