In a tweet Saturday afternoon, the official presidential account wrote: “My message to the companies that operate gas stations and set prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global danger.”
“Reduce the price you charge at the pump to reflect the cost you pay for the product,” Biden added. “And do it now.”
Later on Saturday, the second richest man in the United States criticized Biden’s tweet.
“This is either misdirection or a profound misunderstanding of basic market dynamics.
Ouch. Inflation is too big a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this. This is either misdirection or a profound misunderstanding of basic market dynamics. https://t.co/XgKfEICZpk
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) July 3, 2022 President Biden told reporters that Americans will have to pay high gas prices for “as long as it takes” to end the war in Ukraine. Susan Walsh/APGas Prices could rise if hurricane season causes major outages at US oil refineries. Nam Y. Huh/AP
The move comes as Americans pay higher gas prices amid Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine and inflation.
On Thursday, Biden told reporters that American vehicle owners will have to pay high gas prices for “as long as it takes” for the war to end.
Filling costs can increase even more.
Jeff Bezos blasted President Biden for blaming gas station companies for pump prices. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Natural gas prices could soar above current near-record levels to “apocalyptic” highs if the hurricane season causes major shutdowns at U.S. oil refineries, an industry expert warned last month.
Saturday wasn’t the first time the president and an outspoken American billionaire have engaged in a war of words recently.
In early June, it was revealed that billionaire Elon Musk has such a “super bad feeling” about the US economy under President Biden that he planned to lay off about 10% of the workforce at Tesla, his electric car company.
Biden responded to Musk’s point by taking a shot at Musk and his company SpaceX.
“Good luck on his trip to the moon,” Biden said.
That prompted Musk to respond on Twitter with a link to a 2021 NASA press release about SpaceX winning a $2.89 billion contract to send the next American astronauts to the Moon.
