BLATANT BIAS: PolitiFact Fact-Check Says Dems ‘Aren’t Responsible’ for Gas Prices

The leftist thought police at PolitiFact fact-checked a prominent Republican senator for daring to say that President Joe Biden’s terrible energy policies caused high gas prices. 

PolitiFact reporter Laura Schulte claimed Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-WI) tweet that gas prices are “astronomical” because of “the Democrats’ war on fossil fuels” was false in a March 20 fact-check. 

Support is required for truckers. They are the lifeblood of our economy and are being slammed by regulatory burdens and astronomical gas prices due to the Democrats’ war on fossil fuels. I am happy to have you as a guest @OOIDAMembers today in Brown County pic.twitter.com/7cLbNf7iGW

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) March 18, 2022

Schulte bluntly chided Johnson for his comment: “No, Democrats aren’t responsible for rising gas prices.” She instead pointed the finger at the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine for high gas prices, but the numbers seem to tell a different story. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that gas prices averaged $2.37 per gallons the week Joe Biden was inaugurated. However, gas prices were already at $3.36 per gallon as of the beginning January. This was almost a month prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

This means that gas prices rose by roughly 43 percent during Biden’s presidency, before Russian troops invaded Ukraine.

Schulte claimed that gas prices rising before Biden’s inauguration was proof that his policies had no effect on gas prices. She cited a contradiction-filled example to support her argument. New York TimesThe article entitled Republicans Are Wrongly Blaming Biden For Rising Gas Prices

TimesLinda Qiu protected Biden and fact-checked Republicans who viewed the president to be the cause of high gas prices. She even quoted Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, who reportedly said, ‘“Covid changed the game, not President Biden.’”

The TimesThe piece featured a quote by Abhiram Rajendran (Energy Intelligence Head of North America Energy Research and Director of Research and Advisory) that completely undermined Biden’s defense. Rajendran actually blamed soaring energy prices on the Biden administration’s “‘pretty stark miscalculation of the amount of supply we would need to keep energy prices at affordable levels.’”

In other words, Rajendran correctly identified Biden and his lackeys at the White House as the true culprits behind America’s oil price disaster. But The Times’sThe headline implied that Biden was not responsible at all. 

American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Benjamin Zycher punctured that narrative by explaining that Biden’s war against fossil fuels contributed to reduced output, lifting prices. “Look no further than the Biden administration’s policies for the answer” as to why gas prices are increasing, Zycher said in an op-ed for National Review. “The ‘net-zero’ crusade against fossil fuels is an obvious attempt to force a sharp decline in current and future production.”

Schulte however still minimized the impact of Keystone XL on U.S. oil supplies in her fact-check. She cited University of Wisconsin professor Gregory Nemet as having said, “There are 95 million (barrels) per day of global oil production, and only 0.5 million barrels per day from the Keystone XL so it would have a very small effect, when it would come online.” 

Conservatives under attack Get in touch with PolitiFact Editor@FactCheck.orgDemand it to stop supporting leftist politics that is disguised as fact checks.