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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s struggles at the podium in trying to cover for an increasingly unpopular President Joe Biden and his administration’s policies continued on Tuesday during a discussion about the president’s expected actions on bringing down gas prices.
In her pained attempt at explaining, Jean-Pierre actually said the president is trying to “elevate” Americans’ pain when she meant to say Biden would “alleviate the pain that American families are feeling when it comes to gas prices.”
“The president has been very clear in making sure that he does everything that he can to elevate—to alleviate the pain that American families are feeling when it comes to gas prices,” she said.
The Freudian slip comes as gasoline and diesel fuel prices have risen to astronomical levels, with analysts predicting they will remain high for the foreseeable future without substantial policy changes by the administration or the Democrat-led Congress.
Jean-Pierre’s gaffe was quickly picked up on by critics of the administration.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, quipped that it was a “Freudian slip from the Biden admin.”
WATCH:
Freudian slip from the Biden admin. https://t.co/hoKu48BWED
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 21, 2022
Arizona GOP Chairwoman Dr. Kelli Ward remarked that the press secretary had “got it right the first time” by saying Biden is elevating the pain.
“She’s doing just great at this job,” Stephen L. Miller, a contributing editor at The Spectator, sarcastically responded.
Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich added, “Elevating the pain. Correct.”
Fox News notes further:
Elsewhere in the press briefing, Jean-Pierre continued to offer vague assurances that America is not entering an economic recession, even as Americans face very real economic problems on a daily basis.Â
She denied flatly that America is in any form of a recession, but said the “focus” instead should be on our “stable” future.
“Right now we don’t see a recession. Right now, that is, we’re not in a recession right now. Right now we’re in a transition where … we are going to a place of stable and steady growth and that’s going to be our focus,” she said.
Earlier this month, she called on oil companies to do their “patriotic duty” to do more to make gas prices affordable, though oil is a publicly-traded commodity and prices are largely reflected on investors’ views of government policies and other factors affecting the industry.
“We know where to put the blame on the war, but oil companies, they have refineries, they have responsibility, too. What they have been doing is taking advantage of the war” in Ukraine, she claimed.
Oil companies and their industry groups have pushed back on the accusations.
Chevron CEO Michael Wirth said this week that his company’s mission was to “work every day to help provide the world with the energy it demands and to lift up the lives of billions of people who rely on these supplies.”
“Chevron and its 37,000 employees work every day to help provide the world with the energy it demands and to lift up the lives of billions of people who rely on these supplies,” Wirth said.
He added that Chevron wants to assist the Biden administration in fighting soaring fuel costs, but that the administration “has largely sought to criticize, and at times vilify, our industry,” which is 100 percent true.
“These actions are not beneficial to meeting the challenges we face and are not what the American people deserve,” he wrote, according to The Daily Wire.
“We need clarity and consistency on policy matters ranging from leases and permits on federal lands, to the ability to permit and build critical infrastructure, to the proper role of regulation that considers both costs and benefits. Many of these elements are described in our industry’s recently released 10-point plan,” Wirth said.
Biden responded with a mocking tone, calling Wirth “mildly sensitive.”
“I didn’t know they’d get their feelings hurt that quickly. Look, we need more refining capacity. This idea that they don’t have oil to drill and to bring up is simply not true.
“We ought to be able to work something out whereby they’re able to increase refining capacity and still not give up on transitioning to renewable energy,” Biden added. “They’re both within realm of possibility.”
