House Majority whip James Clyburn said Thursday on MSNBC that voters can’t be stupid enough to choose lower gas prices over “voting rights” as Democrats continue to trend downward in the polls.
Host Jose Diaz-Balart asked Clyburn what he would say to voters who are worried about the cost of food, gas, and heating.
“All of us are concerned about these rising costs,” Clyburn began. “All of us knew this would be the case when we put in place this recovery program. Any time you put more money into the economy, prices tend to rise.”
Clyburn then laid blame on the war in Ukraine, OPEC+ cutting oil production for rising inflation before touting the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act.”
“I don’t know of anybody who will say I would rather pay $10 or even 10 cents or even 20 cents less per gallon and allow you to take my rights away, my voting rights away and these other things that we know the other party is doing to suppress votes. That’s a fool’s choice we will not make.”
“But why ask people to make that choice?” Diaz-Balart pushed back. “In other words, does economic policy necessarily equate what you’re talking about?”
“Economic policy is always a concern. Look, I came out of a household that had difficulty with voting rights … People are voting on more than whether or not you run up the cost of gasoline.”
Clyburn said midterm votes will determine whether medication costs will be lower and whether “we fix our crumbling infrastructure” or having “voting rights.” Clyburn did not specify what voting rights are allegedly at stake.
“I don’t know anybody who would rather stay home from work so long as they can pay 10 cents a gallon less for gasoline. That’s not a choice that we’re going to offer the American people.”(RELATED: MSNBC’s Matthew Dowd Says Republicans Are Like Hitler Because They Care About Inflation)
A newly released Morning Consult/Politico poll found 93% of registered voters say they are “concerned” with inflation while 71% say they are “very concerned.”
The poll also found a majority of voters believe inflation is getting worse and 46% of those polled trusted Republicans to better handle inflation while only 37% trust Democrats. Independents also put their trust in Republicans, with 43% saying the GOP would better handle the issue.
The poll was conducted from Oct. 14-16 among 2,005 voters with an error margin of +/-2 percentage points.