The Chris Cuomo Project - Why Biden Gets Blamed For Gas Prices

Episode Date: September 14, 2023

In light of rising gas prices, Chris Cuomo tackles the hot-button issue by breaking down why the price of fuel matters to so many Americans. Looking at how politicians are exploiting the issue ahead of the 2024 elections, Chris argues that presidents unfairly get the blame — or credit — for the price of gasoline, which is actually influenced by global oil markets, and voters shouldn’t be gaslit by partisan talking points. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday: https://linktr.ee/cuomoproject Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boy, are you getting gas lit when it comes to gas prices. And these are a big set of issues in our election surrounding what happens at the pump. We don't fake the funk here, and here's the real talk. We don't fake the funk here, and here's the real talk. Over 40 years of age, 52% of us experience some kind of ED between the ages of 40 and 70. I know it's taboo, it's embarrassing, but it shouldn't be. Thankfully, we now have HIMS, and it's changing the vibe by providing affordable access to ED treatment, and it's all online. HIMS is changing men's health care.

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H-I-M-S dot com slash CCP. And you will get personalized ED treatment options. HIMS.com slash CCP. Prescriptions, you need an online consultation with a healthcare provider, and they will determine if appropriate. Restrictions apply. You see the website, you'll get details and important safety information. You're going to need a subscription. It's required. Plus, the price is going to vary based on product and subscription plan. The Chris Cuomo Project is supported by Cozy Earth. Why? Because I like their sheets. That's why.

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a critical thinker who wants to be an independent and not just part of the sheeple getting dragged around by some party. Okay? I know it's a mixed metaphor. A sheep, why do they have a hook in their mouth? But it all goes, lemming, sheeple, being led around by the nose, all of these things that make you feel like it's bad to just capitulate to a party. Capitulate, Latin word, which means literally give your head to, right? So let's get the facts, let's get the arguments, and then you

decide how to feel about it, okay? Thank you for subscribing and following here. Thank you for looking at the free agent merch. I want you to really kind of wear your independence. This is about, you know, and it's about us having a pool of money that we can then give away. And I'll let you know who we're giving it to and they'll be the right causes, hopefully in your estimation.

Thank you for giving me a chance on News Nation. Eight and 11 P Eastern weeknights, okay? Thank you. It's growing because of you. Appreciate it. Gas prices. This is such a penny-ante expense. I really hate when they make it a political issue.

You're wrong. They're a penny-ante expense for you. Good, good. Thank God, all right? Life is good. There but for the grace, okay? Chris Rock had a very funny that he did about gas prices, where he is playing with

all these high value issues, whether it's abortion or this or that or that. You mess with people's gas money, now you got a problem. Why? Because it matters to so many. Driving is huge. So many are on the margin, where the difference of a dollar a gallon, 20 bucks a fill up adds up real quick and eats away any cushion. You got to remember a bulk of working class people and part-time working people in America are a couple of checks at best away from being broke. Okay. So the margins are very small.

That means the difference in price matters. It's also become a real agency issue for people, a barometer of whether things are better or worse. The gas price is higher or lower. Grocery price is higher or lower. So it's a real issue. It matters, okay? And it can really put a bite in a household.

So it matters. And it is one of the great universals, right? Because people drive all over this country. That's why there's this kind of perverse pushback against more efficient, economical, and environmentally sound types of fuel and kinds of vehicles. Why?

Because we're tied to gas. Also, we don't really believe the EV thing. One, is it really so much better in terms of how they manufacture it, in terms of the environment and processing costs? Two, we haven't made the upgrades and infrastructure to the grid to support the power that's needed. I have had a number of electricians tell me the same thing,

which is, you know, if everybody on your block had a Tesla, you'd have brownouts all the time. So even if we get pushed to buy these things, we're not even ready for them. And long-term, do we have the ability to make enough power to go to an EV existence? You know, not today. That's why finding ways to have more efficient gas engines and gas prices still matter and are going to matter for a while.

All right. So it matters. Okay. All right. So if it matters, how do we use it in this coming election? Well, the suggestion from the right is that Biden sucks for gas prices. Now, is that fair? Yes. Why? Because it's on his watch. And if things go well, it's on his watch. He benefits from it, even if he had nothing to do with it. Even if he had

policies that counteract or mitigate the strength of whatever it is that we're celebrating in the moment. So if it goes bad on your watch, it's yours. You own it. Okay? The buck stops here. Remember that expression? Is Biden bad for gas? Argument is, yeah, of course.

The prices have gone up since Trump. Okay. Now, what's wrong with that? On one level, nothing. Judge it the way you want. Gas prices have gone up since Trump. Okay. Now what's wrong with that? On one level, nothing. Judge it the way you want. Gas prices have gone up since Trump. They then went down precipitously. They are now creeping back up under Biden. Why? Ah, this is the part that matters to me as a free agent, okay? We are being gas lit about gas prices. How so? There is this illusion slash delusion slash confusion that America can make its own gasoline and heating oil and fuel and get our prices down.

To the extent that that is true, it is only incremental. It is only somewhat, okay? It is only a factor. Why? Gasoline, oil is a world market, okay? Lots of suppliers, lots of buyers, lots of economics, lots of political economic shenanigans which are going on right now that affects the price okay so it's not just about what america can do for itself or what america needs or how america can get it you got to think about china you got to think about india you got to

think about russia you got to think about all the players you got to think about europe you got to think about all it's a world market okay so don't let somebody make it sound like, yeah, just drill more. Drill, baby, drill. We'll be great. Now, I don't have problems with drilling that a lot of people have. I don't. I think that these are policy issues. They're political issues. They're about what you want. They're about what we want as a society. And you debate it, you vote on it, and you go from there. Here's the problem. The assumption is that Biden is anti-drilling and oil because he's part of this nefarious green agenda that AOC is the face of, like she even understands what all these policies are or any of that. I don't even know how much ownership she has other than the idea of being

a progressive, but leave her out of it. That he is just bought and paid for by the AOCs of the world, he is just bought and paid for by the AOCs of the world. So he is going down this green road and screwing us on the fossil fuel side. Okay. If that's true, then why is the United States on pace for a record year of oil exports? Why? You see what I'm saying? It can't be as simple as what they're selling you because it isn't. Now, could they drill even more in places where they're not? Yeah. But the idea that that would make our gas prices go from like 383 or whatever they were

over the Labor Day weekend, summer prices, they always go up because more people travel, supply and demand, supply and demand, that it would be like $2. No, it wouldn't. It may come down a little bit, but their trade-offs and what it means

in terms of flooding the market and what it means for the overall price of oil, this matters too. So the idea that Biden is anti-drilling, we're about to set a record. That has to be relevant in your analysis. Yeah, but it could be even more. Okay, but don't say that he's turned off the faucet. They haven't. Okay? If you look at it in terms of permits, how much is being exported, it's just not true. And you don't have to be full of shit to make a big point and to be right about something, okay? So, well, then Trump must have been drilling even more. No, it was a different point in time, okay? Things were going better. Then came the pandemic and things started to change, okay? And then Biden came in, you know, all these people who are standing out, Trump, man, he's shady, but he put money, you know, put money in these communities. He put money in my pocket. Yeah,

our money, okay? The tax cut didn't even pay for itself, his tax cuts in 2016. Look it up, didn't even pay for itself, his tax cuts in 2016. Look it up, okay? It's not how it works. Taxation has to be very targeted, very specific to groups and timing and what's happening in an economic cycle for them to bear fruit, okay? And perversely, when things are going really well,

that's when you're supposed to have the most tax burden because that's the time that people can afford it most and you can fill up your coffers and have your initiatives. There are all these things that go to monetary policy and tax policy that are inconvenient truths. All I'm telling you is look up the 2016 tax cuts, unless you're looking at like some right-wing fringe outlet that looks like a real media outlet, but isn't,

you'll see the reality. Second, the money that he put into these places were pandemic checks that the Republicans were against. Right? Eventually they wound up making deals on them, The money that he put into these places were pandemic checks that the Republicans were against, right? Eventually they wound up making deals on them, but they weren't like, yeah, write those checks. And Biden sent out a lot of those checks too. I don't even know that a lot of it was needed in terms of what it's going to cost us

and what it did with the budget and our debt. I don't even know that it was needed. Now you're seeing all the fraud with the loans that were there and all this stuff that's going on. But look, it was an unprecedented time. We did unprecedented things. And they were desperate times. And we did desperate things. But the idea that Trump's economy dumped all this money into things, that's just not the case. And you got to give Biden the benefit of the pandemic because it really sunk everything. We don't fake the funk here. And here's the real talk. Over 40 years of age, 52% of us experience some kind of ED between the ages of 40 and 70. I know it's taboo,

it's embarrassing, but it shouldn't be. Thankfully, we now have HIMS, and it's changing the vibe by providing affordable access to ED treatment. And it's all online. HIMS is changing men's health care. Why? Because it's given you access to affordable and discreet sexual health treatments. And you do it right from your couch. HIMS provides access to clinically proven generic alternatives to Viagra or Cialis or whatever.

And it's up to like 95% cheaper. And there are options as low as two bucks a dose. HIMS has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers. So if ED is getting you down, it's time to pick it up. Start your free online visit today at HIMS.com slash CCP. H-I-M-S dot com slash CCP. And you will get personalized ED treatment options. HIMS.com slash CCP. Prescriptions, you need an online consultation with a healthcare provider. And they will determine if appropriate. Restrictions apply. You see the website.

You'll get details and important safety information. You're going to need a subscription. It's required. Plus, price is going to vary based on product and subscription plan. Look, no shame in my game. I've been using AG1 for over five years. Why? It works, it's easier, and it's less expensive. Why? It works, it's easier, and it's less expensive. That's why. Since 2010, they've been getting their formulations right and tweaking their formulas. Why? Because the science changes, okay? It's not like politics where people decide to believe one thing and no matter what happens with the facts, they never shift.

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Did Trump have a better relationship with OPEC and the Saudis than Biden? Trump have a better relationship with OPEC and the Saudis than Biden? Maybe. That case should be argued because I'll tell you what, Russia is sticking it to us right now and the rest of the world because of the Ukraine conflict, right? So they're cutting their supply and they're going to do so again now towards the end of the year when people need to keep themselves warm in a lot of parts of the world and always gasoline. Saudi Arabia just announced that it's going to reduce its output from now until the end of the year. Oh, isn't that convenient coming into an election when they just gave Trump's son-in-law $2 billion?

You know, maybe they want to influence our election as well. You know, you had the price of oil per barrel was somewhere in the 70s, and now it hit 90 in this moment in time when I'm doing this recording because of their announcement about cutting supply. That's why gas prices are high. And we cannot drill or manufacture or refine our way out of the world gasoline market, okay? So the why matters. Now, I'm not saying that Biden shouldn't or won't pay a political price. And if he does, the main reason is on him. Why? Because he's not telling you his story. He's not making the case. I don't know if it's inclination. I don't know if it's the people

around him to say, just let's sit and watch it all burn and just let them kill themselves on the right. And let's just hope it's Trump. That's why we put those money in the last set of primaries into the Trumpiest people we could find in primaries, putting Democrat dollars in the Republican primaries to get the Trumpiest people because we think we can beat them.

And I think that's some dirty pool, man. And to me, it's proof of this battle to the bottom poison party system that I'm against. Free agent, independent, critical thinker. I don't want to be owned by a party, okay? I want to be owned by my own interests and the interests of where I see in my community and the greater community of our nation.

Biden's not telling you the story. He's not telling you the story about his economy. His proxies aren't doing well either. The White House is not great at messaging. And that's on him. But I want you to have clear eyes on the issue. Is Biden to blame for gas prices? Yeah, he's to blame for everything. It's on his watch. Is America in control of its own gasoline market? No, not even close. Not even close. It's a world market. Are prices higher than they were under Trump? Yes. Is that because Trump did things that were better for gasoline prices? No, not necessarily. Is it because Biden did things that are bad for

gas prices? No, not necessarily. They're world markets and there are a lot of other dynamics that go on that weren't in the control of either of them, and still aren't. But if it happens on your watch, you're good, and Trump and his people are really good. The Republicans are telling a story that benefits them and advantages them against the Democrats, even where it's not true. And that's okay. That's politics. That's why I hate politics and would never get involved in it. Even covering it is sometimes really, I'd rather do anything else. And that's why at News Nation, we cover so much crime because I know that matters in a way that the battles between the left and the right

and who's getting prosecuted most recently is not as important as the criminal prosecutions of real predators in our society that could affect our families. But I digress. Gas prices matter. They should matter. Biden is gonna lose on gas prices,

certainly with the current state of play. But it's not because he controls it. And to the extent that it's about drill, baby, drill, Google it yourself. America's about to set a record of sending oil products for export abroad. So clearly, it's not that he's turned off the faucet. Because he turned it up more, yes. But the idea that that would change our gas price reality is a half-truth at best. It's a world market. Now, I think the best and most fertile ground of this analysis is,

well, Biden, what are you doing about Saudis? What are you doing about OPEC? What are you doing about Russia? Those are all legitimate concerns and questions, even if they're not easy to answer and if the reality is they can't do that much and Trump couldn't really do that much. But that's an election. And under Trump, the gas prices were lower. Now, are gas prices coming down? Yeah. Actually, they're on the way back up again. But if you look at the trend line, they went up, right?

At the end of Trump, they started to go up and then they went up under Biden, right? And then they started to come down, come down, come down. And then they started to level, and then they started to come back up. And he's going to have to tell you that story. And he is not good at this. And I don't know if it's about energy or capacity or aptitude or inclination or appetite. I don't know. It doesn't really matter.

It's not getting said. And in politics, I'll give you an immutable truth. If you don't tell me your side of the story, someone else will for you. And you will not like how it ends. All right? That's my take on gas prices. They matter. They're going to matter.

Talked about why. We talked about the political state of play. How do you feel about it? You tell me. Let's get after it. I'm Chris Cuomo. Thank you very much for checking out another episode of the Chris Cuomo Project here.

Comment, criticize, compliment, whatever you want. And we'll take them all in turn. I'll see you at News Nation, 8 o'clock and 11 o'clock P.E. Eastern, every weekday night. Take care of yourself.