CNN primetime host Don Lemon celebrated the fact that gas prices have fallen by about 9 cents from last month in recent days, prompting speculation and mockery from conservatives that Lemon’s comments were connected to recent reports that the Biden administration was seeking more favorable press coverage.
“A big economic relief for millions of Americans who have been dealing with soaring energy prices,” Lemon said at the beginning of a segment on “Don Lemon Tonight” Tuesday. “Cost at the pump, finally easing up. With the national average for a gallon of regular falling to $3.35. The lowest since October. Just look at that,” he continued.
“The government is forecasting gas will drop to $3.01 by January,” he finished.
Lemon then brought on Austan Goolsbee, former chairman of the Council Of Economic Advisors under President Barack Obama and Economics Professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. “Can we just celebrate this some good news just for a minute? I’ll take it where I can get it,” Lemon told Goolsbee.
“Yeah,” Goolsbee responded. “I’m kicking myself because I filled my tank just a few days ago, 64 bucks, when I filled up my tank and I should have waited.”
Lemon then asked Goolsbee why gas prices were falling. Goolsbee answered that gas prices were dropping because oil prices were falling.
“Some of that may be due to the announcements about the strategic petroleum reserve. A lot of that is due to OPEC and the other oil producing countries kind of backing off. They were trying to restrict output and that sort of fell apart a bit and they announced that in January they’re going to increase production.”
The American Automobile Association disagreed with Goolsbee’s assessment. AAA reported Monday OPEC’s commitment not to cut production was part of the dip in prices, but the larger reason was the fear of another economic slowdown because of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
“Consumers may be catching a break at the pump right now, but it’s not for a very good reason,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in the statement. “A potential COVID-19 induced economic slowdown hurts everyone and could prompt OPEC to slash production if oil prices drop too low.
While Lemon did not address President Joe Biden directly, the segment came just ahead of a report that the Biden administration has been pushing news organizations to cover their actions more favorably. The Daily Wire reported Wednesday:
Officials in the Biden administration have been “secretly begging” news organizations to deliver “favorable” coverage to the president, according to a new report.
The administration is “not happy” with endless news reports detailing supply-chain problems, soaring inflation and other woes and “has been working behind the scenes trying to reshape coverage in its favor,” CNN’s Reliable Sources said, according to the New York Post.
The report also says senior White House and administration officials “have been briefing major newsrooms over the past week.” Leading the meetings are National Economic Council deputy directors David Kamin and Bharat Ramamurti, as well as ports envoy John Porcari, CNN reporter Oliver Darcy wrote in a newsletter.
Twitter users were quick to point out the link.
“State-run media: CNN’s Don Lemon does the White House’s bidding by praising the price of gas falling just 5 cents. This is what the Biden administration wanted when they brought in media outlets to tell them how to spin the numbers,” Media Research Center and NewsBusters Deputy Managing Editor Nicholas Fondacaro tweeted.
State-run media: CNN’s Don Lemon does the White House’s bidding by praising the price of gas falling just 5 cents. This is what the Biden administration wanted when they brought in media outlets to tell them how to spin the numbers. pic.twitter.com/q5aTak5rfx
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) December 8, 2021
“Sure looks like those secret spin meetings with media outlets paid off for the White House, eh? What was Lemon singing when gas prices soared all year long?” Hot Air Senior Editor Ed Morrissey tweeted.
Sure looks like those secret spin meetings with media outlets paid off for the White House, eh? What was Lemon singing when gas prices soared all year long?
Great moments in “journalism”: Don Lemon sings Biden’s praises over … seven centshttps://t.co/0Ui75jKBgR
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) December 9, 2021
Gas prices have dropped to $3.34 this week, down from 3.42 last month, according to AAA.