Brian Deese, White House economic advisor, suggested that Americans would have to suffer at the pump if they wanted to see the “future” of the liberal world order in a CNN interview. Victor Blackwell, host of “CNN Newsroom”, played a clip in which President Biden told a reporter at Thursday’s NATO Summit that Americans will continue to pay a premium gas price “as long it takes” for victory over the conflict in Ukraine.
Blackwell asked Deese what the White House would do to Americans who are worried about their ability to pay $5 per gallon or more, possibly for years to come.
The Director of National Intelligence and military analysts agree that this could be a long war, lasting many years. Everyone understands why this is happening. Is this sustainable? What can you say to families who say they cannot afford $4.85 per gallon for months, or even years? Blackwell asked, “This is not sustainable.”
Deese first replied, “What you heard today from the president was a clear articulation the stakes.” This is about the future order of the liberal world, and we must stand firm. This comment caused controversy on social media.
The White House official later praised President Biden for his actions to lower gas prices, calling them “good news.”
He said, “Good news, the price of gasoline at the pump has fallen about twenty cents over the past two weeks but it’s still unacceptable.”
Deese explained that the temporary federal gas tax holiday was to ease pressure on oil companies and to limit the price of Russian oil. These were all measures that the president took to keep “those prices down”.
Blackwell kept pressing the Biden advisor on Americans’ dissatisfaction about the administration. Blackwell cited an APNORC poll that found 69% disapprove of President Biden’s economic performance and 85% dissatisfied with the country’s direction.
Deese said that he sympathizes with Americans’ frustrations, but reminded them that the Biden administration had made “historical economic progress” and that this was a transition.
He began, reminding Americans that, even though we are going through a difficult period, and even while we move through the transition, we have also made significant economic progress. That doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t feel the anxiety they feel. Biden’s official proclaimed that the United States is “better and more powerfully positioned” to address these problems.
Deese answered a question about “transition” and said that the Trump administration wanted to restore the economy to a better state than it was during Trump’s presidency.
