Republicans Pushed For Russian Oil Ban, But Are Already Blaming Biden For High Gas Prices

WASHINGTON ― With Republicans joining Democrats in urging President Joe Biden to ban oil imports from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, his announcement Tuesday to do just that means Biden can at least expect Republicans to stop attacking him about high gas prices ― right?

He probably shouldn’t hold his breath.

Even before Biden’s announcement from the White House that he was banning all Russian petroleum products from the United States, the GOP’s de facto leader, former President Donald Trump, had put out a statement in all capitals: “BREAKING NEWS: HIGHEST GAS PRICES IN HISTORY! DO YOU MISS ME YET?”

And no sooner had the White House released the language of the executive order than did Ronna McDaniel, who chairs the Republican National Committee, put the blame for higher prices directly on Biden.

“Families know Biden’s agenda is to blame for the pain at the pump, and no series of lies will change the reality of his failures,” McDaniel said in a statement, which expressed no support for Biden’s action and contained no references to Ukraine or Russia’s dictator, President Vladimir Putin.

“They aren’t holding on to any principles here. They’re looking for cudgels,” said Amanda Carpenter, a former aide to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas who broke from the Republican Party because of its support for Trump. She added that Biden should make clear to Americans that Republicans supported his move, and that he should also embrace “an all-options above approach” to domestic energy.

“If people really want someone to blame, it’s Putin,” she said. “That, also, shouldn’t be hard for Biden to explain.”

In his remarks from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Biden tried to do exactly that, as he made clear he is aware of the political costs of higher gas prices.

“Putin’s war is already hurting American families at the gas pump,” he said, calling the increases “Putin’s price hike.”

Even before Russia’s buildup of troops along its border with Ukraine last year, Republicans had already been blaming Biden for the increase in fuel costs, which was a predicted result of the economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those increases, which took place over the span of a year, pale in contrast to the sharp leap prices have taken since the start of Russia’s invasion. Nationally, prices had gone up about $1.50 over the 15-month period beginning when the COVID vaccine became available in late 2020, but they have risen another 75 cents in just the past two weeks.

Oil companies, meanwhile, have seen record profits, as demand and prices have increased with the recovering economy. They’ve plowed nearly $40 billion into stock buybacks that enrich existing shareholders but do nothing to invest in new energy production.

Biden alluded to that in his remarks as well.

“To the oil and gas companies and to the finance firms that back them, we understand Putin’s war against the people of Ukraine is causing prices to rise. We get that. That’s self-evident,” he said. “But it’s no excuse to exercise excessive price increases, or padding profits or any kind of effort to exploit the situation … Russia’s aggression is costing us all, and it’s no time for profiteering or price gouging.”

Biden also countered GOP claims that domestic production has ground to a halt during his presidency, pointing out that the United States is on track to produce more oil and gas next year than ever before ― even as he argued that the smarter option for the country and the world is to move away from fossil fuels and toward renewables.

“It will mean that no one has to worry about price at the gas pump in the future. That’ll mean tyrants like Putin won’t be able to use fossil fuels as weapons against other nations,” Biden said. “And it will make America a world leader in manufacturing and exporting clean energy technologies of the future to countries all around the world. This is the goal we should be racing toward.”

On Capitol Hill, one Senate Republican acknowledged that his party bears some responsibility now for gas prices, given Republicans’ advocacy for the Russian oil ban.

“I think that we own some of that,” said North Dakota’s Kevin Cramer. “It’s hard for us to escape some of it because we’ve been advocating for this, taking the lead on it. But at the same time, we’ve taken the lead on more policies that can increase domestic production.”

Cramer, though, appeared to be a rare voice. Far more common among Republicans were views like that of Cruz. On Tuesday afternoon, the Texas senator posted a boast from December by White House chief of staff Ron Klain that gas prices had decreased 25 cents in recent weeks.

Cruz added the comment: “This one aged well.”

Igor Bobic contributed to this report.