An oil industry group blasted a tweet from President Biden’s account over the weekend that called for “gas station companies” to cut their prices, saying the intern who wrote the post should enroll in “Econ 101.”
The tweet from the US Oil and Gas Association, which has garnered 19,000 retweets and more than 90,000 likes, comes as the White House says it is laser-focused on lowering pump prices. The president has backed a freeze on the federal gas tax and is considering opening more domestic wells, although neither is expected to lower prices in the near term.
In his Saturday tweet, Biden took direct aim at the companies that sell gas.
“My message to the gas station operators and pump price setters is simple: this is a time of war and global danger,” the tweet read. “Reduce the price you charge at the pump to reflect the price you pay for the product. And do it now.”
Biden’s call was met with considerable pushback, with opponents arguing that the tweet showed a basic ignorance of market realities.
“We’re working on it, Mr. President,” the US Oil and Gas Association responded. “In the meantime – have a Happy 4th and please make sure the WH intern who posted this tweet registers for Econ 101 for the fall semester.”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos blasted Biden with the tweet, writing: “Inflation is too important an issue for the White House to keep making statements like this. This is either misdirection or a profound misunderstanding of underlying market dynamics.”
Administration officials took to Twitter and television to defend Biden’s remarks.
White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre responded to Bezos’ criticism, tweeting that it’s no surprise the billionaire believes “oil and gas companies using market power to extract record profits at the expense of the American people is the way , on which our economy should work. “
The average price of gasoline briefly topped $5 a gallon in June, but fell to an average of $4.80, according to AAA.
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In addition to pressuring gas stations to lower prices, Biden has also criticized oil companies for making big profits while prices remain near record highs.
Republicans have pushed for the Biden administration to increase drilling at home to reduce dependence on gas imports and theoretically provide stability to the U.S. market.
On Friday, the administration weighed in on whether to open additional oil drilling, but said it was crafting a plan that could include as many as 11 new offshore drilling leases, or none at all. Democrats gave a lukewarm reception to another of the president’s proposals, a suspension of the federal gas tax, one of the few tools Biden has to directly influence prices for consumers at the pump.
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