President Joe Biden, who only expects to be held responsible for positive developments and never blamed for the negative effects of his policies, has had his communications team hammering away at attempts to turn public sentiment back in his favor. These efforts haven't worked. At all. Public opinion continues to grow in opposition to his policies on issues from the economy to the border to national security and beyond.
One of the points Team Biden has been trying to make is that you silly Americans ought to be grateful that, supposedly, the Biden administration has lowered gas prices from "their peak." By "peak," the White House means the all-time national average record for fuel reached in June 2022. One gallon of regular unleaded hit $5.016 on June 14, and diesel set the record at $5.816 on June 19. Of course, Biden was president in June of 2022 and his policies to shut down American energy projects had taken effect. That peak was, of course, his fault — not that he would ever admit it.
And now, after draining America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its lowest level since the 1980s — an exceedingly foolish decision given the wars breaking out in Europe and the Middle East — Biden is expecting Americans to bow in admiration for the fact that "the average driver in America is spending over $100 less than if gas prices had stayed at their peak." The peak, of course, that Biden owns.
Right now, the average driver in America is spending over $100 less than if gas prices had stayed at their peak.
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 4, 2024
What Biden conveniently omitted from his attempt to take credit for reduced fuel costs after he gifted Americans the highest national average prices ever recorded, is that Americans are still, in fact, spending more for gas than they were when he took office. Not only does Biden expect Americans not to believe their lying eyes, he expects them to ignorantly fall for his ploy.
According to the archived version of AAA's gas price tracker, the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded on January 20, 2021 — the day Biden took office and launched his campaign to "end" fossil fuels — was $2.393.
Compare that number to AAA's data on January 4, 2024, when the national average for one gallon of regular unleaded was $3.090, and it's clear that Biden is attempting to take a victory lap on another hit to Americans' wallets. In fact, that hit has been ongoing for nearly 1,000 days: the national average hasn't even fallen below $3.00 since May 2021 shortly after Biden was sworn in.
But worse than the spin being attempted by Biden's communications team, it's insulting to assume the American people won't notice that they're still paying more under Biden than they were before. It's also based on the assumption that Americans don't remember the more than 24 consecutive months (out of the 35 that Biden's been in office) that the average American had to try making ends meet with negative real wages. Or inflation surging to 40-year highs and continuing to increase as Biden enters year four of his term.
So no, gas prices aren't "lower" under Biden — they've been and continue to remain higher since Biden took office. Gas prices, along with interest rates, inflation, and every other negative impact caused by "Build Back Better" policies and their retread as "Bidenomics," continue to be a costly failure — all courtesy of President Biden.