As average gas prices climb, Republicans face yet another election season headache

Donald Trump recently told Fox Business, “I think oil is going to be a little bit of a yo-yo. Goes up a little bit, goes down a little bit.”

At face value, that wasn’t entirely unreasonable, though the president neglected to mention a couple of things. First, he’s the one who is effectively holding the yo-yo’s string. Second, the price has been going up more frequently than down lately. As this week got underway, Politico reported:

The average national price for a gallon of gasoline hit $4.01 today, according to AAA — higher than it has ever been this late in the summer, an ominous sign for Republicans as they confront voters’ concerns with affordability.

The national average price for a gallon of gas has never surpassed $4 after Aug. 10 – the tail end of summer when gas prices typically start decreasing – in any calendar year, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at pricing service GasBuddy.

Two days after this report was published, AAA showed the average national price inching a little higher, reaching $4.03 per gallon.

What’s more, with new data showing consumer prices also climbing, at least a little, The New York Times noted, “Last year, the debate over energy affordability was all about electricity prices. Now, almost six months into the war with Iran, that’s been overshadowed by much higher prices at the pump. Gasoline prices are up 24.6% in the past year and diesel a whopping 39.1%.”

With 12 weeks to go before Election Day and early voting getting underway in some states in just six weeks, this probably isn’t the news GOP officials and candidates want to see. Indeed, Politico quoted Doug Heye, a former spokesman for the Republican National Committee and a longtime GOP strategist, acknowledging that this is the worst time of year for an incumbent president and his party in control of Congress to break all-time gas price records.

On Tuesday night, the president boasted during a brief Q&A with reporters, “Prices are dropping fast.” A month earlier, he similarly said, “Inflation is way down. Everything is great. The prices are coming down.”

As Americans pay more at the pump, it’s a safe bet that Trump’s false assurances aren’t going to prove persuasive.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

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