President Biden responded to reports of record profits for major oil companies.
Twitter fact-checked President Biden’s tweets Sunday morning, providing more context for his claims about low oil prices.
“Currently, the most common price at gas stations nationwide is $3.19 a gallon,” Biden tweeted. “That’s progress.”
Below the tweet, Twitter provided some clarification on what “regular” gas prices mean. The fact check distinguishes between the “most common gas price” – $3.19 – and the “average price” – $3.80.
President Joe Biden and the White House COVID-19 Response Team in December (Kent West Village/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The most common is the “pattern” gasoline price, which means it happens to be the most common in the US, but that’s not necessarily incorrect.
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Politicians are ultimately interested in citing the most common gas price, which tends to be lower than the national average and lowers higher prices.
Heading into this week’s midterm elections, the issue has become a general headache for Biden and Democrats.
Biden has had a particularly troubled relationship with oil companies since taking office. Late last month, the president criticized the recent earnings of major oil companies, urging them to invest their profits in increasing U.S. production and lowering consumer prices or face restrictions.
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Biden argued that the oil companies’ recent profits were a “war windfall” for Ukraine, and he believed they had a “duty to act in the interest of consumers, communities and the country.” He urged them to spend some of their profits on boosting their U.S. production and refining capacity and lowering the price of natural gas that Americans see at gas stations.
The average gas price when Biden takes office in January 2021 is $2.37 a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Aislinn Murphy of FOX Business contributed to this report.