Inflation and increasing gas prices have been the most prominent topics for the past couple of months, and everyone has been chiming in to discuss them.
Last Saturday, President Joe Biden tweeted about gas prices, drawing the attention of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who couldn’t help but slam the President’s post.
“My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril,” tweeted the President.
“Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product, and do it now.”
Bezos chimed in, quote-retweeting the President with a response.
“Ouch. Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this,” he said. “It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep understanding of basic market dynamics.”
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Bezos’ accusation of President Biden missing the mark on the high gas prices earning criticism from the White House.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre double-downed on Biden’s statement through Twitter.
“Oil prices have dropped by about $15 over the past month, but prices at the pump have barely come down,” Jean-Pierre tweeted. “That’s not ‘basic market dynamics.’ It’s a market that is failing the American consumer.”
Karine Jean-Pierre also criticized Jeff Bezos, saying:
“But I guess it’s not surprising that you think oil and gas companies using market power to reap record profits at the expense of the American people is the way our economy is supposed to work.”
Another White House official, John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications spoke up on Sunday through Fox News, saying the Amazon founder was wrong.
He also praised Biden, who “tells exactly what he’s thinking in terms that everybody can understand.”
Last June, Biden also criticized Exxon Mobil for “making more money than God this year,” referring to the company’s record-breaking profits while the average American pays record-high prices at the pump.
The President also held a meeting with executives and CEOs from several oil companies, urging them to do more to lower gas prices.
Saturday was only one of the several times that the Amazon founder clashed with figures from the White House, often to tackle the issues surrounding inflation.
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