Former President Donald Trump slammed rising gas prices under the Biden administration on Thursday as he indicated his time in office proved more affordable for drivers.
Trump touted that his tenure saw sub-$2 fuel prices, a cost seldom seen in the United States over the last few months.
“With Memorial Day Weekend coming up, tomorrow people start driving in the biggest automobile days of the year. I’m sorry to say the gasoline prices that you will be confronted with are far higher than they were just a short number of months ago where we had gasoline under $2 a gallon,” the former president said in his latest tweemail. “Remember as you’re watching the meter tick, and your dollars pile up, how great of a job Donald Trump did as President.”
DAILY ON ENERGY: WHY PUMP PRICES ON MEMORIAL DAY COULD RISE
Trump also lamented the loss of energy independence, insisting Russia and the Middle East will capitalize on the spike.
“Soon Russia and the Middle East will be making a fortune on oil, and you will be saying how good it was to have me as your President,” he said. “Wasn’t it great to be energy independent, but we are energy independent no more. Shame, shame, shame. Other than that, have a great Memorial Day Weekend!”
With Memorial Day around the corner, demand for gasoline has risen 43% compared to the same time period last year, as people in the U.S. are expected to shell out $1.18 billion in fuel over the next five days, according to GasBuddy. Several states are still reeling after the Colonial Pipeline’s operations were halted via a cyberattack from the criminal enterprise DarkSide on May 6.
Top brass at Colonial have since restarted operations after paying a nearly $5 million bounty to the group, though shortages on the East Coast remain an issue. As of Monday, Washington, D.C., reported that 55% of its pumps were without gas, while South Carolina had a 28% shortage and North Carolina was experiencing 25% of its stations without fuel, according to updates from GasBuddy.
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Shortages were also noted in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia. In all, over 6,600 gas stations were without fuel.
Supply issues were much more dire earlier in the month as some states reported over 70% shortages during the peak of the crisis.