During Wednesday’s daily briefing, Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy argued with Communications Director Karine Jean-Pierre, questioning why President Joe Biden felt gas firms would do anything to aid him if his regime wants to put them out of business.
Doocy posed the issue to Jean-Pierre in the aftermath of the president’s declaration that he intended to withdraw additional oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in order to sell it, then purchase it back after oil prices fell to roughly $70 per barrel.
Doocy began by observing that Biden had once again attacked gas firms for raking in record profits while failing to cut consumer prices and questioned why an admin. that had consistently maligned and hobbled the oil industry thought the big oil companies would do anything in order to aid them.
“So you’re pushing oil firms to decrease gas costs even further? What makes you believe they’ll listen to a government that’s attempting to put them out of business?”
“How? What strategies is the admin. employing to drive them out of business?” Jean-Pierre inquired.
“Well, they create fossil fuels, and this president has stated that he wants to phase out fossil fuels,” Doocy responded.
“You kind of asked me that question yesterday,” Jean-Pierre retorted. “Here’s what we’d say: US oil output is up and on course to set a new record next year. When we look at their profit margins, we can see that. They’re — you know, they’re — it’s a record high.”
Jean-Pierre’s remarks followed Biden’s unveiling of the administration’s energy policy, in which he claimed to “debunk” a misconception regarding American oil output.
“Let’s bust a few myths here. My govt. has not shut down or slowed oil production in the United States. Quite the contrary. We’re producing 12 million barrels of crude oil each day, so by the end of the year, we’ll be generating one million barrels each day more than we were on the day I took office,” Biden added.
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee called the president’s allegation a “lie.”
Rasmussen Reports’ official Twitter account took a different approach, releasing a screenshot of a CNBC headline published just a week after President Biden’s inauguration. The headline said, “Biden suspends gas and oil leasing as part of a flurry of executive initiatives on climate change.”
