Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy sparred with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during Wednesday’s daily briefing, asking her why President Joe Biden thought gas companies would do anything to help him if his administration wanted to put them out of business.
Doocy put the question to Jean-Pierre in the wake of the president’s announcement that he planned to pull additional oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in order to sell it, then buy it back once the price of oil falls to around $70 a barrel.
WATCH:
Doocy: "Well, they produce fossil fuels & this President says he wants to end fossil fuel."
KJP: "So…Oil production is up and on track to reach a record high…We've seen that…from their…profit margins. They are–they–you know, they–it's record high." pic.twitter.com/EEF4Og3VwZ
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 19, 2022
Doocy began by noting that Biden had once again blamed gas companies for raking in record profits while failing to lower their prices to consumers, and asked why an administration that had repeatedly demonized and hamstrung the oil industry believed the gas companies would do anything to help them.
“So, you’re asking oil companies to further lower gas prices. What makes you think they are going to listen to an administration that is ultimately trying to put them out of business?”
“How? How is the administration trying to put them out of business?” Jean-Pierre asked.
“Well, they produce fossil fuels and this president says he wants to end fossil fuel,” Doocy replied.
“So look, you kind of asked me this question yesterday,” Jean-Pierre pushed back. “Here’s what we would say: U.S. oil production is up and on track to reach a record high next year. We’ve seen that from their … when we see their profit margins. They are — they — you know, they — it’s record high.”
Jean-Pierre’s comments came on the heels of Biden’s announcement explaining the administration’s energy strategy, after which he claimed to “debunk” a myth about domestic oil production.
“Let’s debunk some myths here. My administration has not stopped or slowed U.S. oil production. Quite the opposite. We’re producing 12 million barrels of oil per day and by the end of this year, we will be producing one million barrels a day more than the day which I took office,” Biden said.
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee responded to the president’s claim with just one word: “Liar.”
The official Twitter account for Rasmussen Reports took a different tack, sharing a screenshot of a CNBC headline that was published just a week after President Biden was inaugurated. “Biden suspense oil and gas leasing in slew of executive actions on climate change,” the headline read.