Former President Donald Trump has been utilizing gasoline costs to assault Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a latest electronic mail blast, Trump stated gasoline costs had “soared, making commuting and journey costlier.” At a rally in Iowa in December, Trump claimed gasoline costs had soared as much as $8 a gallon, which fact-checkers rapidly dismissed as false.
The price of gasoline has lengthy been a key problem for voters, who — regardless of world occasions like conflict or political instability in oil-rich nations overseas — usually blame excessive costs on whoever is within the White Home. So, it is a well-rehearsed political maneuver for a challenger to assault an incumbent over the price of gasoline.
Regardless of Trump’s exaggerations, he isn’t completely flawed. Fuel costs have risen in recent times. They hit a excessive of about $4.93 a gallon in mid-2022, in accordance with knowledge from the US Vitality Data Administration, which assembles and analyzes knowledge from the US authorities. That prime got here simply months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February of that 12 months, inflicting gasoline costs to spike.
However, a month earlier than the election, gasoline costs are falling, upending Trump’s assault technique. Fuel costs have declined steadily for the final 5 months, in actual fact, in accordance with the American Car Affiliation. Andrew Gross, a spokesperson for AAA, stated that development is more likely to proceed.
“There are actually 10 states with gasoline averages under $3 a gallon, which implies hundreds of stores east of the Rockies are promoting gasoline at equally low costs,” Gross stated in a press launch, which famous that gasoline demand is low, as is the present value of oil at about $70 per barrel.
The nationwide common value for a gallon of gasoline was $3.30, a 6-cent decline from the earlier week, AAA stated.
