President Biden's top economic adviser Brian Deese has claimed in an interview with CNN that Americans will have to endure high gasoline prices at the pump for a prolonged period, possibly years, justifying the suffering by the need to protect the established world order, presumably referring to Biden's claims it will help defeat Russia in Ukraine.
"What you heard from the president today was a clear articulation of the stakes. This is about the future of the liberal world order, and we have to stand firm," Deese said, referring to Biden's statement that US citizens will continue paying extra for gas "as long as it takes" to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Deese went on to claim that he sympathized with Americans who were frustrated over the prices, but insisted they must realize it was a part of a "transition" towards "historic economic progress," which purportedly will happen under the Biden administration.
"And also remind the American people that even as we go through this challenging period, even while we move through this transition, we also have made historic economic progress, and that's not to suggest that people shouldn't feel the anxiety that they feel."
The White House economic adviser went on to praise POTUS' efforts to reduce fuel prices, such as the recently requested fuel tax holiday for three months, pressure on refineries to produce more gasoline and plans to put a cap on Russian oil prices. It is unclear, however, how Washington plans to implement the latter, let alone profit from it considering the US' own ban on Russian crude imports.
The adviser went on to claim prices at the pump have already dropped by 20 cents, but rushed to admit they were still unacceptably high.
High gasoline prices and rampaging inflation remain among the main points of public criticism of Joe Biden's presidency and one of the main drivers behind his rapidly falling approval ratings. Almost 70% of Americans are displeased with Biden's handling of the economy, while 85% generally believe the country is going in the wrong direction.
Biden in turn has blamed the Russian special operation in Ukraine for inflation, calling it "Putin's tax." He has never elaborated on the accusation or explained how decades-high inflation in the US was already reported several months before the special operation in Ukraine started.