The President walked right into a political trap of his own making, and now Americans are going to pay the price literally.
While on the campaign trail in 2019, Biden said, “I would make it very clear we were not going to in fact sell more weapons to them[Saudi Kingdom]. We were going to in fact make them pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are.”
Biden made the comments during the Democrat presidential primary and was referring to the killing of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi. His comments were in stark contrast to the traditional platform of the Democrat Party, former President Obama, and then-President Donald Trump.
The media loved it, claiming the killing of Khashoggi was Trump’s fault and Biden would finally put the Saudis in their place.
After Biden took office, he slashed domestic fossil fuel production, making America more dependent on foreign oil suppliers, and in late 2021 gas prices started to rise. Then came the war in Ukraine, which caused fuel prices to escalate, and Joe knew he was in trouble.
With an approval rating in the toilet, Biden went to Saudis, and the media told us he requested they increase production to get us through the crisis in Ukraine.
With the national average for gasoline being around $5 a gallon, Biden spoke with the Saudis, who agreed to increase production. A few weeks later, the price of oil dropped, and Biden thought he was in the clear.
Until the Saudis pulled the rug out from under him.
According to the Saudis, who – issued a long explanation – Biden asked them to delay their production cut until after the midterms elections, which the White House rejected.
From the Associated Press:
A statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry didn’t specifically mention the Nov. 8 elections in which U.S. President Joe Biden is trying to maintain his narrow Democratic majority in Congress. However, it stated that the U.S. “suggested” the cuts be delayed by a month. In the end, OPEC announced the cuts at its Oct. 5 meeting in Vienna.
Holding off on cuts would have meant implementing them just before the election — at a time when they likely couldn’t drastically influence prices at the pump.
The White House rebutted the claims.
“It’s categorically false to connect this to U.S. elections,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. “It’s always been about the impact on the global economy and impact on families at home and around the world, especially as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin wages his war against Ukraine.”
Biden vowed that there would be consequences for the production cut, but the Saudis scoffed at it. According to reports, Biden is threatening a quid pro quo for weapons if they don’t resume high production levels (where have we heard this before).
Get ready to watch Biden punish the Saudi’s for not helping him win the midterms https://t.co/coKRbwGGS0
— Rob Schmitt (@SchmittNYC) October 13, 2022
Biden walked right into a political trap.
If Biden really wanted to put the screws on the Saudis, he would unleash American oil production to incredible levels flooding the market and bottoming out the price. The move would help our allies (like Germany), hurting Russia and the Saudis. But Joe won’t do it, and now we are going to pay the price.
In the end, Biden is probably going to pay the biggest price because, by the time we get to election day, gas may be back to $5 a gallon.