At a campaign event in South Carolina on Saturday night, former President Donald Trump roused the crowd by discussing the topic of high gas prices and the shortcomings of Bidenomics. South Carolina’s Republican Party held its annual Silver Elephant Gala in the state capital of Columbia, and Trump was the featured speaker.
Trump has been critical of President Joe Biden’s energy policies, saying the United States is no longer the world’s leading oil and natural gas producer.
The former president predicted gas prices would again approach $4 per gallon. He noted that the Biden administration is pushing for all-electric automobiles and want the cars to be smaller. He asked if everyone thought it a good idea to have an electric vehicle that you can for an hour.
The audience loudly displayed their distaste for the idea of electric cars.
Trump characterized his opponents as “crazy.” He said a gallon of gas is creeping back toward $4 after hovering between $5, $6, and $7 for most of President Biden’s tenure in office.
He said the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve should not have been depleted under the Biden administration. He pointed out that the government sold 180 million barrels of oil from the strategic reserve just before last year’s midterm elections to keep gas prices from rising.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 354,366 barrels in May was the lowest in 40 years, but Trump claimed it was the lowest ever recorded. On July 31st, the Energy Department announced that around 346 million barrels were in the reserve.
As a result of high prices brought on by global demand and decreased supply from Saudi Arabia, the Biden administration postponed purchasing 6 million barrels of oil for the reserve.
If you look at the price of gasoline and other energy sources, Trump said they’re rising quickly. Mortgage rates are already above 7%, and experts predict they will continue to grow when inflation reaches levels not seen in half a century.
Heading into the 2024 presidential election, it is clear again that “it’s the economy, stupid.”
