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President Biden and White House officials are engaging in a rhetorical sleight-of-hand to defend the administration’s record on domestic oil production.
The Biden administration has repeatedly touted the fact that oil production in Biden’s first year in office was higher than in Trump’s first year in office.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during Monday’s briefing that “the U.S. produced more oil this past year than in President Trump’s first year.”
DAVID ASMAN FACT-CHECKS BIDEN ON RISING OIL AND GAS PRICES: IT’S ‘JUST INCORRECT’
Biden sounded a similar note Tuesday during his remarks announcing a ban on Russian energy imports. “Even amid the pandemic, companies in the United States pumped more oil during my first year in office than they did during my predecessor’s first year,” Biden said.
But the White House’s framing omits a key fact: while domestic oil production in 2021 was higher than it was in 2017, it was lower than it was in 2018, 2019 and 2020, federal statistics show.
The White House spin comes amid increasing Democratic anxiety about the political impacts of record-setting gas prices ahead of the midterm elections.
Biden warned Americans on Tuesday that the ban on Russian oil imports would cost American families.
President Biden’s administration has engaged in a rhetorical sleight-of-hand when talking about domestic oil production. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst )
“Putin’s war is already hurting American families at the gas pump since Putin began his military buildup on Ukrainian borders,” Biden said. “And with this action, it’s going to go up further. I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home and coordination with our partners.”
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Republicans, meanwhile, say high gas prices are going to fuel a red wave in the midterm elections.
Domestic oil production was lower in Biden’s first year in office than in Trump’s last year in office. (Reuters/Nick Oxford)
“Historically, inflation works against the party in control of Washington,” Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told Fox News Digital.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., echoed that sentiment.
“Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical Green New Deal agenda will be a major issue in November’s elections,” Scalise told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, Jessica Chasmar and Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.