Fox News blamed Biden for rising oil prices — then prices went way down
Falling oil prices shine a light on hollow right-wing criticism against progressive policies
Written by Eric Kleefeld
Published
The recent nearly 30% fall in the price of oil futures, which had previously skyrocketed due to the initial disruptions and uncertainties from Russia’s war against Ukraine and the onset of American-led sanctions, seems to disprove the chorus of Fox News antagonists who during the past two weeks had blamed President Joe Biden and progressive policies for rising prices.
Global oil trading reached a high of nearly $140 a barrel at the beginning of last week. But by the end of the week, prices in U.S. markets had fallen to $112 a barrel. Prices continued to fall on Monday and Tuesday of this week, providing some hopeful signs that gas prices could soon follow as those changes make their way through the entire supply chain.
Perhaps spooked by the pace of market fluctuations, some analysts initially predicted that oil prices were headed to $150 per barrel. But the same economic volatility that drives prices up can also drive prices back down, once the initial fears of supply disruption were worked out, which seems to be the case today.
When oil and gasoline prices started picking up steam two weeks ago, Fox News fanned its viewers’ fears that things were going to keep on getting worse, and falsely blamed President Biden’s policies for making energy more expensive. With prices falling quickly back to earth in the past few days, will the network issue a corrective for their fearmongering?
On the March 2 edition of Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, professional climate change denier and frequent Fox guest Daniel Turner, of the pro-industry group Power The Future, claimed that oil prices could “easily” reach $150 a barrel — even without putting sanctions on Russian oil.
“And if we do ever put sanctions on Russian oil, which is doubtful, but if they actually did, I think $200 a barrel of oil is not impossible, and that will be devastating to our economy, to families,” Turner claimed.
Bartiromo then repeated her guest’s claim later in the program, while she interviewed former President Donald Trump over the phone, who in turn said that prices could go “unlimited.”
On the March 7 edition of Tucker Carlson Tonight, the host warned that economic sanctions like the ones enacted against Russia would inevitably lead to oil prices of more than $150 a barrel, further resulting in “recession, depression, uncontrollable inflation, and the rest — economic devastation to us and our allies.”
Then on the March 9 edition of Jesse Watters Primetime, the host declared: “Oil could hit $200 a barrel as more Russian oil comes offline. That means $6, $7 gas in America. Imagine that.”
But even as oil prices were declining over the last few days, Eric Trump still claimed on Monday night’s edition of Hannity that Russia would be economically stronger when “oil’s at $130 a barrel, Sean — it was at $40 under my father.”
Just to be clear on this point, Trump’s rollbacks of fossil fuel regulations had never driven prices that low. Instead, oil prices collapsed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the entire global economy went into a tailspin. Trump then took the rare move for an American president of pursuing an international deal to slash production — and bring prices back up — in order to protect energy production jobs in America. The economic wisdom of the deal he struck was still highly debatable, as it had the effect of imposing additional costs on consumers and businesses at a difficult time.
The misleading narratives about the cause of the price increases stem from Fox’s relentless propaganda on energy policy since the beginning of Russia’s war, with the network pushing false claims that the Biden administration had been shutting down oil production while blaming green energy policies and climate activists for encouraging Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his smaller neighbor.
And in an ultimate display of hypocrisy, Fox News personalities initially attacked Biden for not banning Russian oil, casting such inaction as a moral failing during an international crisis. Once the administration did announce the ban on Russian oil, following work behind the scenes to ensure U.S. energy supplies, Fox then turned around and attacked the sanctions for driving up costs for American consumers.