Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) reminded voters Thursday about the gasoline price on Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the Capitol riot.
Piggybacking off the recent news that OPEC+ moved to slash oil production, which has once again catapulted gas prices to the political fore as the midterm elections enter the home stretch, Cotton chided the Democrats over their focus on the Capitol riot, noting that the country enjoyed lower prices at the pump under former President Donald Trump.
BIDEN FACES GOP HEAT FOR REPORTED DEAL TO LIFT SANCTIONS ON VENEZUELAN OIL
“The Democrats are always saying that ‘never forget Jan. 6.’ Yeah, remember that on Jan. 6, gas was at $2.40 a gallon,” Cotton told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “It was at $2.40 a gallon because, for four years, we had an administration that understood that American energy production, and specifically fossil fuels, natural gas, oil, and coal, literally power our economy.”
Democrats have been sent into a frenzy by recent news that OPEC+, an oil production group that includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, would be tampering down the oil spigot. The White House seemingly walked back a prior commitment this week not to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease rising gas prices.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR): “The Democrats are always saying, ‘Never forget January 6th.’ Yeah, remember that on January 6th gas was at $2.40 a gallon.” pic.twitter.com/dK1KMxHO2h
— The Recount (@therecount) October 6, 2022
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese explained the administration would move more crude oil into the market “as appropriate to protect American consumers and promote energy security.”
Although down from the summer highs near $5 back in June, gas prices appear to be nudging upward a little, averaging $3.87 a gallon on Thursday, according to AAA. Republicans such as Cotton have seized on the gas concerns to blame Democrats for their energy policies.
“It’s not an accident gas is $4 to $5. The pain Americans are feeling right now is a direct result of the Democrats’ war on the energy that powers our economy,” Cotton tweeted.
It’s not an accident gas is $4 to $5. The pain Americans are feeling right now is a direct result of the Democrats’ war on the energy that powers our economy. pic.twitter.com/7CBrEGuDSa
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) October 6, 2022
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Prices at the pump have long been a prickly problem for presidential administrations. Former President Barack Obama reportedly observed a correlation between his poll numbers and the price of gasoline.
FedEx founder and chairman Fred Smith told @BretBaier in April Obama once told him his poll numbers were “almost perfectly correlated with the price of gasoline.”
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) October 5, 2022
The midterm elections are less than five weeks away, and both parties have hunkered down, seeking to win control of the House and Senate. Some Democrats, such as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), have prodded the Biden administration to play hardball with Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ countries as the midterm elections loom large.
.@POTUS should make it clear that we will stop supplying the Saudis with weapons and air parts if they fleece the American people and strengthen Putin with drastic production cuts. https://t.co/idKRK8mCvV
— Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) October 5, 2022
