Reactions to Biden's tweet on high gas prices and Bezos criticism
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
We ran the numbers: There are 1,057 news articles covering this topic. 15% (160) are left-leaning, 47% (493) are centrist, and 38% (404) are right-leaning.
On July 2nd President Joe Biden posted a tweet criticizing oil companies and calling on them to lower gas prices. Responses to this tweet, and to the Biden administration’s handling of rising gas prices, soon emanated. While left-leaning articles focus on Jeff Bezos’ response to the President’s tweet, right-leaning articles focus on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s discussion about oil prices and Biden’s policies.
A left-leaning article from The Washington Post highlights a tweet by Jeff Bezos, who owns the Post, to Biden, writing, “inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this. It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics.” The article also notes how Bezos has previously accused Biden of “misdirection” on other issues.
The Hill published a centrist article reporting how John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, defended President Biden against Bezos’ critique. Kirby declined to comment about concerns of countries not raising oil production when asked about the President’s upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East. The article also notes how the Biden administration has attempted to quell rising gas prices by releasing oil from the national strategic reserve and by supporting a federal gas tax holiday.
A right-leaning article from Fox News highlights Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s defense of the Biden administration’s oil and gas policies. Buttigieg denied White House blame, asserting that the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and oil executives caused the rising oil prices. According to the article, the White House has “repeatedly blamed the Russian leader [Putin] to deflect from Biden's role in rising energy costs.”