During Tuesday's Senate Finance Committee hearing to discuss "The President's Fiscal Year 2023 Budget," Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) displayed just how tone-deaf she is on gas prices affecting her constituents when she bragged about driving an electric car. When it comes to the price at the pump, Sen. Stabenow said, "It didn't matter how high [the price] was."
"After waiting a long time to finally have enough chips in this country to finally get my electric vehicle, I got it and drove it from Michigan to here this last weekend and went by every single gas station, and it didn't matter how high it was," Sen. Stabenow said about gas prices. "And so I'm looking forward to the opportunity for us to move to vehicles that aren't going to be dependent on the whims of the oil companies and the international markets," she continued.
Our friends at Twitchy highlighted some of the best responses to Stabenow's remarks.
Michigan Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow brags that she passed "every single gas station" in her brand new electric vehicle, "and it didn't matter how high [gas] was."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 7, 2022
The average cost of an electric vehicle is more than $56,000. pic.twitter.com/2TJbrgClwo
AAA's map of gas prices shows that Michigan is facing some of the highest gas prices in the country, with the average price of gas in the state costing $5.171 a gallon.
Stabenow is hardly the only Democrat to promote electric vehicles, which even took her some time to acquire.
The Biden administration has encouraged electric vehicles for months, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg especially doing so.
It's also hardly the only noteworthy response as of late from Democrats on this issue. As Julio covered, Gene Sperling, a senior Biden advisor, acknowledged to CNN's Brian Stelter, "I'm not going to try to say I feel that pain personally as much as so many families."
While Stabenow may be able to say "it didn't matter how high" gas prices were for her, polls reflect the American people feel quite differently.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll shows that just 27 percent of Americans approve of how Biden is handling gas prices. A write-up from ABC News on the poll's results highlighted how "Economic issues top the public's agenda." The poll's write-up points to how 74 percent of respondents say that gas prices will affect how they will vote.
In his analysis for CNN over the weekend, Harry Enten warned that "Off-the-charts gas price hikes are a big problem for Democrats."
A Tuesday morning list of issues from Rasmussen Reports shows that 82 percent are "concerned" about "Rising Gas Prices," with 60 percent being "very concerned."
Good Morning !
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) June 7, 2022
Newly Revised Top Issues Rundown For Readers
Clip-N-Save and - please retweet? pic.twitter.com/xxkMVEvgbf
While the Biden administration has sought to blame others for rising gas prices, including "oil companies," as Sen. Stabenow referenced, it's worth reminding that Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline via executive order on his first day in office.
The president has taken to begging countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela for foreign oil, though they won't even take his calls. In fact, Biden had reportedly planned to visit Saudi Arabia, but the trip, which was condemned even by fellow Democrats, has been postponed.