Joe Biden: $7 a Gallon Gas in California 'Always Been the Case'

President Joe Biden during a visit to Los Angeles on Thursday dismissed gas prices in California reaching nearly seven dollars a gallon.

The president spoke with reporters briefly after getting tacos with local Democrats in Los Angeles.

When asked to react to prices reaching nearly seven dollars a gallon in California, Biden replied, “Well, that’s always been the case here.”

Biden argued that gas prices were still down nationwide from the previous highs in the summer, even though they have gone back up as much as 30 cents a gallon in some areas.

“You know, it’s not, what, nationwide, they came down about $1.35,” he said. “And they’re still down over a dollar.”

Thursday’s average for a gallon of gas in Los Angeles was $6.257, according to AAA.

Prices are going back up after Saudi Arabia and the OPEC+ nations agreed earlier this month to cut oil production by two million barrels a day.

When asked by reporters if he had a message to Saudi Arabia, Biden replied, “We’re about to talk to you.”

At a speech earlier in the day, Biden boasted his success at reducing gas prices, which was lowering the pain of inflation across. the country.

“[A] lot of it is the result of getting the cost of living at the gas pump down by more — now even in California now — by more than a dollar nationally and — since the start of summer,” he said.

But he indicated he would do more to try to lower gas prices ahead of the midterm elections in November.

“[T]he price of gas is still too high, and we need to keep working to bring it down,” he said. “I’ll have more to say about that next week.”