White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said today, “We are currently experiencing the fastest decline in gas prices in over a decade”:
Jean-Pierre: "We are currently experiencing the fastest decline in gas prices in over a decade." pic.twitter.com/STunDXJxSo
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 1, 2022
Moreover, since their peak in June, gas prices have fallen 81 cents per gallon, according to Jean-Pierre. Great news! Except that the current average price per gallon is still a hefty $4.212 per gallon. In California, Oregon, Hawaii, Alaska, Nevada, and Washington, the average price of regular gas is over $5 per gallon. This year, the highest average price per gallon, recorded on June 14, was $5.016.
The Biden administration doesn’t seem to realize that a fast decline is relative and only possible when its policies have essentially driven up prices to such an extent that a substantial drop still leaves the public paying a lot at the pump.
One Twitter user had a simple but apt analogy:
18 months ago I was fit and weighed 180 lbs. I then ballooned to 400 pounds but in the last 6 weeks I’ve lost 50 lbs – my fastest decline ever. This is what the Biden administration calls success
— BTFD (@JCBarraza2) August 1, 2022
This gas gift is almost as good a deal as last summer, when the Biden administration hailed the fact that Americans could save 16 cents on their July Fourth cookout from the previous year.