Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) expressed confidence Tuesday that the public is on board with President Donald Trump’s conflict with Iran, dismissing concerns that dissatisfaction with surging energy prices triggered by the war will negatively affect the Republican Party in the midterm elections.
During an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Cruz argued that gas price increases are temporary and still hold below what they reached under the Biden administration. The “short-term” impact of energy prices surging due to the Iran war is worth ensuring that the country’s radical Islamist regime does not have access to nuclear weapons, the Republican senator contended, claiming there are “no data” showing voter sentiment has switched to favor Democrats more heavily since the conflict sparked in late February.
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“I don’t think national security decisions should be done based on short-term political considerations,” Cruz said. “I don’t think it’s going to impact the midterms materially.”
“If this gets resolved and resolved favorably,” he added, “if we have a government in Iran that are not Islamists chanting ‘death to America,’ funding terrorists, and trying to kill us, the long-term effect on the cash price of gas would be to bring it down, and I think the American people want the president to do the right thing for the country. There are very few threats on the face of the earth that have a greater prospect of potentially killing hundreds of thousands of Americans than an ayatollah who had a nuclear weapon, which is why President Trump has been so clear-eyed.”
Trump launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28 after the United States was told by Iranian leadership that it had enough enriched uranium to make 11 nuclear bombs within 10 days, according to the president’s team. The war triggered uproar in the global energy markets, spiking gas and oil prices across the world, due to its impact on the Strait of Hormuz. The Middle Eastern passageway remains in upheaval amid the conflict, spelling doom for the public as much of the world’s fuel supply passes through the strait.
At a national average of $4.29 a gallon, gas prices in the U.S. are over a dollar higher than they were one year ago, according to AAA. Prices have fallen from $4.43 a month ago but have yet to settle back to the $3.14 average from last year, amid the conflict with Iran.
The all-time high for the national average gas price was $5.01 in 2022, according to AAA.
The surge in gas prices could have major implications for the GOP in November, as polling consistently shows high inflation and cost-of-living concerns as top considerations for voters heading into the midterm elections.
An Overton Insights survey released last month showed 57% of respondents said that due to high gas prices, they were less likely to support the Republican Party. The poll came after a Reuters-Ipsos survey released in March found that 55% of respondents had their household finances “somewhat” affected by increased gas prices, and 63% disapproved of the administration’s handling of the cost of living in the U.S. Only 35% said Trump was doing a good job on the U.S. economy.
Cruz sought to make the case for his party, arguing that while it still has “work to do” before November, “there’s a very real prospect that Republicans hold both the House and Senate.”
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“Anytime there’s military conflict in the Middle East, gas prices go up,” he said. “What I’ll tell you — let’s take gas prices. So, under [former President Joe] Biden, gas prices nationally were between five and six bucks a gallon. Trump came in, and we cut them basically in half, to about three bucks a gallon. … Now, with the conflict in the Middle East, gas prices have gone up to about 4.50 a gallon, so we’ve given away about half of the decrease we had.”
“Before the conflict in Iran started, the national environment was about [Democrat] plus six,” Cruz added. “Today we’re still about D plus six. As far as I can tell, the conflict with Iran has not moved those numbers at all.”
