Jen Psaki Attempts to Shift Blame From Biden on Rising Gas Prices, Points the Finger at Putin For Invading Ukraine

At yesterday’s daily press briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki attempted to shift blame from Joe Biden on rising gas prices.

Instead, Psaki pointed the finger at Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.

According to AAA, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas is $3.92 a gallon, which is the highest price since April 2012.

For the first question of the briefing, the Associated Press’ Colleen Long prefaced it by telling Psaki, “So, President Biden has promised that there’s going to be no American boots on the ground, and he’s also acknowledging that the war in Ukraine is going to impact pocketbooks.”

“We see, you know, especially with what happened with the nuclear facility in Ukraine, no sign of Putin stopping.  And, in fact, he’s telling Macron that he’s in this until the end,” Long continued.

Long then asked, “So, I wonder what makes the administration confident that Americans are willing to, you know, pay for the price of Ukrainian liberty, especially if this is going to drag on for long?”

Psaki responded, “Sure.  Well, to be very clear — and I think you all heard the President convey this in his speech the other night: The reason why we are seeing volatility in the global oil markets, the reason why the price of gas is going up is not because of steps the President has taken; they are because President Putin is invading Ukraine, and that is creating a great deal of instability in the global marketplace.”

“So, what we are trying to do and what the President is focused on doing is taking every step we can to mitigate the impact of that.  Obviously, he announced the release of more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, did that in a coordinated way.  We have a range of options on the table we are considering,” Psaki insisted.

Psaki concluded, “But where we are at in this moment is — certainly, we are taking steps to stand up for democracy, stand up for democracy versus autocracy, stand up to the actions of a brutal dictator — but it is because of his actions that we are in this circumstance.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki: "The reason why the price of gas is going up is not because of steps the President has taken. They are because President Putin is invading Ukraine" pic.twitter.com/T1Qx76T4ce

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 5, 2022