Ron DeSantis Blasts Biden: Most Americans Don't Have the 'Luxury of Spending $50k+ on an Electric Car'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) blasted President Joe Biden for being out of touch on Sunday following reports of the president drafting an executive order to invoke the Defense Production Act to help produce material for electric car batteries.

“After begging for oil from dictators, Biden is now using emergency war powers to produce batteries for the 1% that drive electric cars. Most Americans suffering due to high gas prices don’t have the luxury of spending $50k+ on an electric car,” DeSantis said, making the demand to “unleash American energy today!”:

After begging for oil from dictators, Biden is now using emergency war powers to produce batteries for the 1% that drive electric cars.

Most Americans suffering due to high gas prices don’t have the luxury of spending $50k+ on an electric car.

Unleash American energy today!

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 27, 2022

DeSantis’s remarks follow a report from the Intercept which reviewed a draft of the executive order that would use the Defense Production Act “to ramp up mineral production for electric car batteries,” according to the outlet:

The order would [sic] specifically says “domestic mining, beneficiation, and value-added processing of strategic and critical materials from sustainable sources for the production of large capacity batteries for the automotive, e-mobility, and stationary storage sectors is essential to national defense.”

Meanwhile, Americans are suffering under soaring gas prices in the second year of Biden’s presidency, as he quashed American energy independence upon taking office, nixing the Keystone Pipeline on day one. As of Monday, the national gas price average stood at $4.246. What is more, the average is as high as $6.757 in some areas of California.

Similarly, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg came under fire this month after promoting electric vehicles in the midst of rising gas prices:

How many people have a spare $56,000 for an electric car?

What about the charging costs?

This is not a realistic solution. https://t.co/pnAWmznwAP

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) March 8, 2022

Throughout it all, Biden has refused to take responsibility, blaming rising gas prices on a variety of entities, including Russia, even though prices were on the rise prior to its invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this month, DeSantis blasted Biden for groveling to dictators, asking for help:

Part of the reason the Americans are grappling with this situation, [DeSantis] said, is because “the Biden administration has had a policy of really kneecapping the American energy industry.”

“This is based on ideology. They don’t want us producing like we did under the Trump administration, so they’ve done a series of things,” he said, including shutting down the Keystone Pipeline. As a result, Americans are left with the “chilling” effect that this is “not an administration that is energy friendly.” But rather than recognizing their policies’ shortcomings, the Biden administration is trying to justify their actions and inexplicably “going to Maduro” and potentially to Iran.

“So you say you don’t want to do with Putin because he’s a dictator. Fine. I’m all for that,” DeSantis said. “But then don’t turn around and go to Maduro, who has committed all kinds of atrocities.”