‘This is a Time of War’: Biden Targets Gas Station Owners Over Prices During ‘Time of Global Peril’
President Joe Biden called for a three-month federal gas tax holiday in a speech on Wednesday, and urged the states to do the same with their gas taxes. He also demanded action from oil companies and pointedly suggested that gas stations aren’t being fair with pricing, coming just shy of calling it price-gouging as some Democrats have already said.
After presenting his case for the gas tax holiday, and calling on states and oil companies to take action, Biden zeroed in on what gas stations are charging at the pump.
“When the cost of oil does come down, we need the price at the gas stations that they charge at the pump to come down as well,” said Biden.
The implication is that the companies would not pass those price reductions along to customers.
“For example, in the last two weeks, the price of oil has fallen by more than $10 a barrel. Normally, this would reduce the cost of the pump about $0.25 a gallon. Yet, so far, gas stations have only reduced prices by a few cents a gallon,” he said. “Some haven’t reduced prices at all.”
Biden acknowledged that experts on the subject have offered reasons why that result is not immediate, but relied on his own conjecture to continue his indictment of gas station owners as ripping off consumers.
“I’ve heard plenty of explanations from companies and economists about why it normally takes time for these price reductions to reach the consumer. I might note: when the price of a barrel of oil goes up it doesn’t make me take much time for the price at the pump to go up,” he said. “So let’s be honest about it.”
He concluded by heavily implying that gas station owners and companies are being unpatriotic and undermining the nation during a war — he made a similar charge against Republicans for criticizing his administration’s high gas prices elsewhere in the speech.
“My message is simple. To the companies running gas stations and setting those prices at the pump: this is a time of war, global peril, Ukraine. These are not normal times,” he said. “Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you are paying for the product. Do it now. Do it today. Your customers, the American people, they need relief now.”
On Fox News Channel, anchor Sandra Smith said Biden is accusing “mostly owned by mom and pop, individually-owned gas stations” of “illegal activity.”
Watch the clip above, via the White House on YouTube.
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