House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is still blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin and “corporate greed” for high food and gas prices in the U.S., as Americans continue to identify economic issues as the top concern heading into the midterm elections.
“This week, generally, has been about affordability — affordability at the kitchen table” and gas pump, Pelosi said during Thursday’s weekly press conference, touting legislation that she claims would lower food and fuel costs.
“Do you believe that Russia is one of the big suppliers of fertilizer in the world?” she asked, touting the legislation, which they say would lower food costs by lowering fertilizer costs.
“Competition, competition, competition is so important in the meatpacking industry. And it just simply doesn’t exist, so that will also lower meat and poultry cost on the shelf and, therefore, at the kitchen table, and the lowering cost with cheaper, cleaner unleaded 88,” she continued before blaming Putin — not Democrats’ dismantling of energy independence — for rising costs:
We want to break the grip of foreign supply on American kitchen tables, and that applies in fuel as well as fertilizer. And, again, many of these poultry meat packing companies are foreign-owned. When Putin invaded Ukraine, almost immediately, the cost of, at the price at the pump, went up about two dollars in — not immediate but near immediate range of his invasion.
“Largely the price of the pump is about supply. Supply is down. Cost is up. The war has contributed enormously to that, but there is also price gouging, and we had legislation that we talked about before that was passed in the Congress addressing price grounding as well as market manipulation,” she said, adding that there is some “corporate greed” involved in the price of gas.
The average price of gas stood at $4.413 on Friday as inflation hit another 41-year high in June, reaching an annual rate of 9.1 percent.
It appears the 82-year-old lawmaker is sticking to her talking points as the midterm elections approach, blaming everyone but Democrats for the current state of economic affairs in the country.
“No, I don’t think the public is blaming Democrats,” she told a reporter in April when asked about rising prices. “I think they’re blaming oil companies. They will blame all of us if we don’t do something about the fossil fuel industry.”
A June Rasmussen Reports survey showed that the American people are not buying the left’s narrative, however, as just 11 percent think Putin is to blame for high energy costs.