Then-President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Nov. 3, 2020, the day before the election. (Kamil Krzaczynski / Getty Images)
By Richard Moorhead March 7, 2022 at 2:20pm
With gas prices skyrocketing under President Joe Biden, some are pointing to a prescient prediction made by then-President Donald Trump just before Election Day.
Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Nov. 2, 2020, said Americans would end up paying $7 per gallon for gasoline if his Democratic opponent ended up in the White House.
“As long as I’m president, we will remain the No. 1 one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere on this planet,” he told the crowd. “And for the first time, we are energy independent. You never heard that term before. We’re energy independent.”
“We have so much oil,” Trump said. “We have more oil than anybody, OK? And it’s an incredible thing that it’s happened over the last few years. A lot of great things. And you’re paying, what, $2 a gallon for your gasoline? That’s OK.
“You know what that’s like? That’s like a tax cut. That’s bigger than a tax cut.
“If Biden got in, you’d be paying $7, $8, $9, then they’d say, ‘Get rid of your car.’”
Even the most fanatical climate-alarmist Democrats would’ve considered the 2020 prediction unlikely.
The Washington Post said in an analysis piece a week after Trump’s speech that a “dubious meme has emerged online in conservative circles: The price of gasoline will spike because Joe Biden is taking office.”
Is Biden’s energy policy a disaster?
“Experts say those fears are overblown,” the Post said.
In fact, it said Biden’s policies, including a possible easing of tensions with Iran, “could result in incrementally lower gas prices.”
That hasn’t happened, of course.
Instead, Trump’s prediction has become a reality. Residents of Los Angeles are now paying the crushing price of $7 a gallon for gas.
Biden gutted American energy production and independence by canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline project on day one of his administration.
He failed to deter Vladimir Putin’s Russia from invading Ukraine and launching a war that’s slated to dramatically increase European energy insecurity and raise the costs of gas around the world.
Instead of developing concrete solutions to unaffordable energy prices, the Biden administration has directed Americans to lower their expectations or purchase electric vehicles.
The reality is those remain grossly unaffordable for the vast majority of Americans, with the average model costing $55,000.
Pete Buttigieg: Upset with near-record gas prices? Too bad. Buy an electric vehicle.
(The average cost of an electric vehicle is over $55,000) pic.twitter.com/VjBvhx4RGd
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 7, 2022
It’s not even clear if the Biden administration wants to deliver a solution on gas prices for Americans, instead opting to force more people out of their vehicles and onto inefficient and soul-destroying public transportation.
Vice President Kamala Harris referenced a “turning point” to a “zero-emission fleet” on Monday.
Kamala Harris says “our transportation sector has reached a turning point” to make a “transition” on energy pic.twitter.com/4UAkYLnwDO
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 7, 2022
Biden administration officials also have engaged in talks with the leaders of oil-producing dictatorships Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, apparently willing to consider every energy option except increasing gas and oil production at home.
The administration has pulled the rug of American energy independence out from under the feet of the American people — and left the middle class with the bill.
Just as Donald Trump predicted.
Richard Moorhead is a conservative journalist, a graduate of Arizona State University, service member, and guitar player.