Biden Dismisses Idea That Oil Reserve Move Is Politically Motivated
(ConservativeHub.com) – On October 19, President Joe Biden announced he would release 15 million more barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) through December. This has led to questions about whether or not the action is politically motivated. Yet, the president held firm that his motivation was purely to help Americans.
During his remarks on gas costs, Biden pointed to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as a primary reason gas prices are high. He noted costs have recently come down but added they need to drop lower because people are struggling to afford fuel. The president then explained that releasing additional reserves from the SPR would help meet his mission to do everything possible to drop costs. He called it a responsible use of a “national asset.”
Biden: Strategic oil reserve release "not politically motivated at all" https://t.co/B8IM5jVPLD pic.twitter.com/2xSB0cldVZ
— The Hill (@thehill) October 19, 2022
A reporter asked the president during his announcement how he felt about GOP accusations that he had political reasons for releasing oil. However, Biden responded there was no political motivation and said he was continuing on the same path as before to help provide Americans with relief. He then took a verbal shot at Republicans, asking, “Where have they been the last four months?”
Ahead of the announcement, Republicans criticized the move. For instance, Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) took to Twitter, calling it short-sighted and suggested the administration look into improving American oil production instead. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) suggested in a statement that the president is responding to a “political jam” that he created and that this is only a short-term remedy compared to a bigger problem. Meanwhile, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) said in a Tweet that Biden’s release of oil was a “political ploy” to bring down pas prices for midterms.
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