White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday said that teachers, nurses, and firefighters should be relieved that gas is $4.11 per gallon, celebrating the fact that prices at the pump have fallen since reaching record highs earlier this summer.
During Friday’s press briefing, Jean-Pierre noted that gas prices are declining at the fastest rate in over a decade. Since mid-June, prices have fallen about 83 cents per gallon and as of Friday the national average retail price for a gallon of gasoline was $4.11, according to the American Automobile Association.
But Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy challenged the White House narrative, noting that prices are still nearly $2 more expensive than when Biden assumed office in January, 2021.
“Why is the president bragging today about gas prices?” Doocy asked.
“Because it’s gone down,” Jean-Pierre answered curtly.
“It’s still $1.72 higher than when he took office,” Doocy replied.
Unfazed, Jean-Piere told Doocy, “it has come down in a way that we haven’t seen its trajectory coming down in over a decade.”
But Doocy noted that average gas prices are still more than $4 per gallon. “Is that good?” he asked.
“Okay, you want to talk to a nurse, or a teacher, or a firefighter if having that little bit of breathing room doesn’t matter to them,” Jean-Pierre replied.
Incredulous, Doocy asked, “Are nurses and teachers and firefighters saying gas prices are only $4.11, this is great!”
Jean-Pierre was undeterred. “I’m saying even that little bit of breathing room matters to families, especially during the summer when people are traveling, when people are trying to do what they can for their families, when people are trying to think about, ‘what are we going to do with our kids? Drive them to camp? Drive them to see other family members across the country?’
“This matters. When you think about 85 cents per month for family members, you think that doesn’t matter for everyday Americans?,” she said, appearing to misspeak. She likely meant to say that gas prices have fallen 83 cents per gallon over the past month.
“That matters and the reason we’re seeing that is because of the work that this president has done this last several months,” she continued.
“To say that the changes, the drop that we have seen at the pump per gallon doesn’t matter, I think that is wrong, I think that is not true, and I think that does give a little bit of space, breathing room for families. And I think that is important.”