The national average for gas prices was $4.82 a gallon Saturday — and more than $6.25 in California. “My message to the companies that run gas stations and set prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global danger,” Biden tweeted. “Reduce the price you charge at the pump to reflect the cost you pay for the product. And do it now.” The Biden administration has blamed rising gas prices on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth month. On Thursday, Biden told reporters in Spain that American drivers should put up with high gas prices for “as long as it takes” for Ukraine to beat Russia. Gas prices remain high across the United States. Getty Images Chen Weihua took a swipe at Biden in a tweet.Twitter The White House also pointed the finger at oil companies, accusing them of artificially restricting supply by refusing to drill on leases approved by the federal government. In response to Biden’s demand that oil companies lower their prices, the president was trolled by Chinese state media. “Now the President of the USA has finally realized that capitalism is all about exploitation. He did not believe this before,” wrote Chen Weihua, head of the EU Office and a columnist for China Daily, an English-language media outlet owned by the Chinese Communist Party. During an appearance on CNN on Thursday, National Economic Council Director Brian Dies defended Biden’s claim that Americans should suffer high costs at the pump until Russia is defeated. “What you heard from the president today was a clear articulation of the stakes,” Diess said. “This is about the future of the liberal world order and we must stand firm.”
