Conservatives Seize On Gas Crunch To Blame Biden, Stir Base
A graphic calling the
These and thousands of other social media posts along with conservative websites and commentators this week misleadingly painted President
In reality, a ransom-seeking cyberattack, not a Biden executive order or energy policy, triggered the shutdown that drove residents of states such as
Biden spoke about the hack Thursday as he sought to assuage fears around the supply crunch, reassuring the public that his administration had helped get the
Still, some of the most widely shared tweets discussing the gas crunch between Friday and Wednesday lobbed criticism toward the president, according to the media intelligence firm
Misleading narratives targeting Biden began picking up speed on Monday, the day
“Wouldn’t it be weird if the CYBER-ATTACK that shutdown the United States’ top fuel line was an INSIDE JOB to pretend
“People can’t complain about gas prices if there’s no gas to buy,” read the caption of an image depicting a sinister Biden with his fingers interlaced, retweeted by
Other posts claimed the long gas lines across the
“Gas shortages now, food shortages tomorrow?” tweeted
In another narrative, posts equated Biden to former President
“Jimmy mishandled crisis after crisis, but Biden has CREATED crisis after crisis," Trump wrote. “First there was the Biden Border Crisis (that he refuses to call a Crisis), then the Biden Economic Crisis, then the Biden Israel Crisis, and now the Biden Gas Crisis.”
Fox News Channel’s
Recent world events have challenged the Biden administration in its economic goals. Over the past week, it has faced a disappointing monthly jobs report, worrisome signs of inflation and escalating violence in
All the while, Biden is still attempting to vaccinate the nation against the coronavirus, distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in economic aid and negotiate his own infrastructure and families plans that total a combined
Higher energy prices often have political fallout, complicating reelection campaigns for incumbents outside oil-producing regions.
With gas prices already rising as COVID-19 restrictions loosen and Americans travel more, the pipeline's shutdown has created an even worse public relations problem for Biden. Fuel hoarding and lines at the pump have made it difficult to gain control of the narrative.
The Biden administration's message that the problem was a supply crunch rather than a gas shortage, while accurate, didn't satisfy Americans who couldn't find gas to fill their cars, according to
“You have Republican division over the
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