Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has turned the tables on Joe Biden over the Democrat president’s refusal to tap domestic oil and gas resources amid the energy crisis.
During a press conference regarding high energy prices, which are the main driver of inflation that’s crippling American families, DeSantis unloaded on Biden.
The governor noted that Biden recently visited Saudi Arabia, where he groveled before the regime and asked for help with oil shortages.
The trip failed, however, and the Saudis refused Biden’s request to export more oil.
“How come it’s wrong to produce our own oil and gas here, but you can go to Saudi Arabia and fist bump to try to get it from Saudi?” DeSantis said in reference to Biden’s overly friendly greeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“I mean, it makes no sense that we wouldn’t do it.
“We have opportunities here to be energy independent and not have to worry about any of these other countries.
“And yet they’re intentionally not doing it and you can’t run a modern economy on windmills. You just can’t do it.
“And so now we’re in a situation where they’re bragging that gas has gone down over the last however many weeks, it’s still over four bucks.
“Like I had never seen it over $4 in my whole life living here.
“It’s just when you’re cranking the printing presses, you’re making energy more expensive.
“You know, that creates an upward pressure on all of this stuff.
“And so the acceleration from May to June that we saw at the end of June, not only was — they said it wouldn’t happen, then they said it was a blip, and they said it would peak soon.
“It still didn’t peak even after that.
“And so that’s really making it difficult for a lot of people, you know, to make ends meet,” he said.
WATCH:
"How come it's wrong to produce our own oil and gas here, but you can go to Saudi Arabia and fist-bump to try to get it from Saudi? I mean, it makes no sense… We have the opportunities here to be energy independent." – @GovRonDeSantis today pic.twitter.com/lCeemGPGDt
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) July 18, 2022
From CNN:
But that image of the fist bump was what the Saudis wanted — a reputational boost putting MBS in pole position in a region where rivalries and power plays are a fact of life.
Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, claimed it was good for Biden, too.
“I see the image as a win for President Biden, I think, because he is engaging with one of the key partners of the United States, in the region, and beyond. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a key player in regional stability,” he told CNN in an exclusive interview.
Biden came to the desert kingdom first, rather than other energy-rich Gulf kingdoms such as the United Arab Emirates or Qatar, and did business with the de facto leader of the nation he on the campaign trail vowed to make a “pariah.”
Nevertheless, Biden signaled success, hinting more oil will flow from the region to counter the reduced flow from Russia in the wake of Western sanctions imposed following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
But the President came home without a public promise of increased oil production.
Pressed by reporters on the issue, Biden said, “I’m doing all I can to increase the supply,” adding that increases would be seen in weeks.
“We’ll see more when we see gas stations start to lower their price consistent with what they’re paying for oil,” he added.
