Analysis

Democrat House Majority Leader Claims ‘We’re At War’ So Republicans Shouldn’t Blame Biden For Energy Crisis

   DailyWire.com
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 12: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) (L) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) lead Democratic members of the House of Representatives in observing a moment of silence to mark one million American deaths from the coronavirus on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol May 12, 2022 in Washington, DC. According to Johns Hopkins University, as of Thursday the COVID-19 pandemic has killed 998,824 Americans and claimed more than 6.2 million lives around the world.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

While discussing American energy production on Friday, Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) blasted Republican criticism of President Joe Biden’s handling of the gasoline crisis during what he said was a “time of war.” Hoyer claimed that Americans needed to focus on the “enemy” — Russia.

As pointed out by many pundits and Republicans, those were peculiar comments to make considering that the U.S. is not officially at war with Russia. Even if we were, disagreeing with the president would still be allowed.

“The Biden administration approved more drilling permits in 2021 than the Trump administration approved in the first three years they were in office,” Hoyer said on Friday from the House floor in response to Republican statements about Biden’s energy policies. He later added, “I don’t know how the [Republican leader] rationalizes his comments about Biden constricting petroleum production…”

“It is unfortunate that in a time of war, that we spend all the time blaming our own president,” he continued. “It is unfortunate that when the Europeans put themselves — over the objections of numerous administrations — in a place where they had a dependence on Russia, Russia has no leverage over us.”

“I wish we’d get off this and really focus on the enemy,” Hoyer remarked. 

“I know there’s a lot of politics here, but we’re at war,” he remarked again. “We need to produce energy.” 

In response, Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX) tweeted ponderingly, “‘In a time of war’ – did we vote on a declaration of war? Asking for a friend.” 

The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles also quipped, “In case you missed it, an old coot congressman decided unilaterally to declare war on a nuclear former superpower.” 

Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald added, “Apparently — according to Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer — we are ‘in a time of war,’ which makes criticism of our President ‘unfortunate.’ I didn’t realize the US was at war (OK, I did), but even so, that’s not actually a reason to refrain from criticizing Joe Biden.”

While the U.S. has not technically entered the war on Ukraine’s behalf, the federal government has supplied billions of dollars to Ukraine in the form of aid since Russia invaded in February.

Currently, the Senate is negotiating a $40 billion aid package that will be officially voted upon next week. As The Daily Wire reported, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) temporarily blocked that bill Thursday while requesting that an amendment be added to it that would allow an Inspector General to oversee how that money would be spent.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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