Doocy: Is Biden Responsible for Gas Prices Going Up? Jean-Pierre: 'It's a Lot More Nuanced Than That' (October 4, 2022)

Fox News’ Peter Doocy put the White House’s favorite gas-price boast to a simple test. “You’ve said the President was responsible for gas prices coming down,” he told press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “Is the President responsible for gas prices going up?”

“So, it’s a lot more nuanced than that. Right, Peter? You know this,” Jean-Pierre answered. The video above shows the exchange from the Oct. 4, 2022, White House briefing, a day before the OPEC+ oil cartel announced a major production cut. Quotes are from the official briefing transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1].

”A Lot More Nuanced Than That”

Jean-Pierre blamed forces outside the president’s control. “There have been global challenges that we have all have dealt with,” she said. “There’s been pandemic and there’s been Putin’s war. And Putin’s war has increased gas prices at the pump” [1].

Then she pivoted back to the credit. “What the President was able to do — he took some historic steps, when you think about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” she said, “saving American families over a dollar per gallon” [1].

The Biden Treasury’s own estimate was far smaller. Its July 2022 analysis found that the reserve release, together with international partners, “lowered the price of gasoline by 17 cents to 42 cents per gallon” [2].

”Who Can Afford That?”

Doocy came back with the pump prices out West. “And there are consumers now in California paying $6.41 a gallon for gas; Nevada, $5.51; Oregon, $5.46. Who can afford that?” [1]

“And we understand that,” Jean-Pierre said. “We have never said we were done here. We have always been very clear that there is more work to do.” She added that “we have seen the fastest decline in gasoline prices in over a decade” and put the savings at “$100 per month in savings for an average family with two cars” [1].

The national average had come down from its peak, but it was turning back up. The government’s weekly survey put regular gasoline at $3.78 the week of Oct. 3, up from $3.65 two weeks earlier, and it climbed to $3.91 the next week [3].

”What Happened?”

Doocy’s last question went back to the president’s trip to Saudi Arabia that summer. “When the President went to Saudi Arabia, he said, ‘I’m doing all I can to increase the supply for the United States of America, which I expect to happen.’ What happened?” [1]

He was quoting Biden accurately. After meeting the kingdom’s leaders in Jeddah in July 2022, Biden told reporters, “I’m doing all I can to increase the supply for the United States of America, which I expect to happen. The Saudis share that urgency. And based on our discussions today, I expect we’ll see further steps in the coming weeks,” Bloomberg reported. Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, answered that his country would keep working within OPEC+, the alliance that includes Russia: “We base that on fundamentals, not on speculations, not on hysteria, not on geopolitics” [4].

Jean-Pierre said the trip was about something else. “His trip to the Middle East was not about oil,” she said. “It was about America’s position in the Middle East and consultation with 12 leaders from across the region on a range of issues” [1].

The Next Day: OPEC+ Cuts

Doocy got his answer within 24 hours. On Oct. 5, OPEC+ decided to cut its production quotas by 2 million barrels a day, about 2% of global supply [5][6].

The White House was not happy. “The President is disappointed by the shortsighted decision by OPEC+ to cut production quotas while the global economy is dealing with the continued negative impact of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said in a statement [6].

The statement also announced that the Energy Department would release another 10 million barrels from the reserve the next month, and that the administration would “consult with Congress on additional tools and authorities to reduce OPEC’s control over energy prices” [6].

”The Deepest Respect for the U.S. Coast Guard”

A reporter raised the military’s vaccine mandate. “And then I wanted to ask — the President recently praised a group of Coast Guard rescue swimmers. One of them reportedly faces termination because he isn’t vaccinated. I’m curious, given the threats that we’re facing abroad, would the President ever reconsider that vaccination requirement or consider issuing more exemptions?” [1]

“So, as you — as — as you can imagine, the President has the most — the deepest respect for the U.S. Coast Guard,” Jean-Pierre said. “I would refer you specifically to the U.S. Coast Guard on this — on this issue, on this individual questions. It’s not something that I would comment from here.” [1]

By the Numbers

$5.006: the record national average for regular gasoline, set the week of June 13, 2022 [3].
$3.782: the average the week of the briefing [3].
$3.912: the average a week later, after the OPEC+ cut [3].
17 to 42 cents: Treasury’s estimate of how much the reserve releases lowered gas prices [2].
2 million barrels a day: the OPEC+ cut announced Oct. 5, 2022 [5].
$6.41, $5.51 and $5.46: the California, Nevada and Oregon prices Doocy cited [1].

What Happened Next

More oil from the reserve. Two weeks after the briefing, Biden announced 15 million more barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, completing a 180 million-barrel drawdown, as HYGO News reported in its page on that announcement.

Prices fell by year’s end. The national average dropped to about $3.09 a gallon the week of Dec. 26, 2022 [3].

The credit kept coming. A month after Doocy’s question, Jean-Pierre told reporters the reserve release had “brought gas prices down by $1.25,” a claim HYGO News checked against the Treasury estimate on its Karine Jean-Pierre record page.

The mandate fell, and Trump ordered reinstatement. “On August 24, 2021, the Secretary of Defense mandated that all service members receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The Secretary of Defense later rescinded the mandate on January 10, 2023.” says Executive Order 14184, which President Donald Trump signed on Jan. 27, 2025. “The vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members.” [7]

The order tells the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to “make reinstatement available to all members of the military (active and reserve) who were discharged solely for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and who request to be reinstated.” [7]