Biden: Gas Prices Are Up Because of Covid and Vladimir Putin

TRANSCRIPT:

Biden: “The problem we’re facing with gas prices has two routes. First, the pandemic. When Covid struck, demand for oil plummeted, so production slowed down worldwide. Because of the strength and the speed of our recovery, demand for oil shot back up much faster than the supply. That’s why the cost of gas began to rise last year. The second route is Vladimir Putin. The start of this year, gas was about $3.30 a gallon. Today, it’s about averaging 4.20, 4.22, it’s higher in many states, nearly a dollar more in less than three months. The reason for that is because of Putin’s war. And now many people are no longer buying Russian oil around the world, I banned the Russian import of oil here in America, Republicans and Democrats in Congress called for it and supported it. It was the right thing to do. But I said at the time, it’s gonna come with a cost. As Russian oil comes off the global market, supply of oil drops and prices are rising. Now Putin's price hike is hitting Americans at the pump."