White House Claims Highest Gas Prices Since 2014 Are 'Average'
The White House on Thursday claimed that gas prices in the United States are “average,” encouraging Americans not to overreact to rising gas prices.
During the White House press briefing, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese unveiled a chart developed by his team, which shows gas prices adjusted for inflation.
“What it shows is that, on average, over the last 10 years — and, in fact, this is true over the last 20 years — the average price at the pump for a gallon of gas has been about $3.13 in real terms, inflation-adjusted,” Deese said triumphantly, pointing at his chart.
White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese talks to reporters during her daily news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on December 09, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images).
But even Deese’s adjusted chart showed that gas prices were currently the highest since 2014, when Biden was vice president and former President Barack Obama was in office. (Adjusting gas prices for inflation does not take into account the cost of gas compared to a worker’s average wages.)
Gas prices adjusted for inflation (Whitehouse.gov)
A look at the actual gas prices shows the last time gas was above $3.00 a gallon was in October 2014.
US Regular Conventional Gas Price (fred.stlouisfed.org)
The unadjusted federal data is more dramatic, as it shows just how high gas prices are compared to former President Donald Trump’s time in office.
Under Trump, gas prices briefly peaked at $2.87 during the Memorial Day weekend of 2018 and never passed $3.00 a gallon when he was in office.
Deese celebrated that prices had dropped slightly after Biden released 50 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve before Thanksgiving, the biggest release in American history.
“Prices of gas at the gas pump are now down nationally. They’re down about nine cents,” Deese said.
He predicted that gas prices would continue to fall “over the next couple of weeks.”
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