US President Joe Biden said Americans will have to stomach high gas prices “as long as it takes” to beat back Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“As long as it takes, so Russia cannot in fact defeat Ukraine and move beyond Ukraine,” Biden told reporters Thursday in Madrid, in response to a question about how long high gas prices might persist. His comments echoes those of U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his closest geopolitical ally and one who is facing similar pressures back home about the cost-of-living crisis.
The national average gasoline price hit a record this month above $5 a gallon, even after Biden ordered a historic release from US reserves earlier this year. Prices at the pump have been a main driver of inflation, which has been a major political headache for the Biden administration.
Biden said he’ll ask allies in the Persian Gulf region to boost oil production when he meets with them during a trip to Saudi Arabia next month, though he pointedly refrained to say he’d ask the country’s de-facto leader to directly when he meets de-facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, in person next month.
Biden’s latest comments about inflation -- which amount to telling voters that they need to brace themselves for the long haul -- are unlikely to play well.
Americans have cited inflation -- which hit a four-decade high this spring -- as their primary concern heading into November midterms. Democrats will likely lose control of Congress. That worst-case scenario will become even likelier if the US. goes into recession. Concerns about such a downturn are growing daily.
