By Trevor Hunnicutt, Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With Republicans exploiting soaring gasoline prices to gain political ground ahead of this year’s congressional elections, President Joe Biden’s team is pursuing a counter-narrative strategy: blame it on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Biden and his administration have coalesced around the phrase “Putin price hike” to describe the energy inflation challenges created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and retaliatory Western sanctions, White House officials said.
“I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home,” Biden said in a tweet on Tuesday.
Already battling inflation at a 40-year high, Biden on Tuesday imposed a ban on U.S. imports of Russian oil, adding pressure to crude prices holding near a 14-year peak.
The move is likely to drive up U.S. pump prices that have already risen past $4 a gallon in many places. This stands to pose a political problem for Biden, one Republicans are eager to seize on ahead of November midterm congressional elections.
So far, the White House is encouraged by Americans’ response to the Russian oil ban. A Wall Street Journal poll on Tuesday reported 79% of Americans said they favored a ban on Russian oil imports even if it increased energy prices in the United States. It said 13% were opposed.
“Americans across the country understand that there’s a price for the sanctions that we are taking to exact pressure on Putin and support the president’s approach,” said an official.
Still, those figures could shift against Biden as gas prices rise. The administration has already begun looking at scenarios in which oil tops $200 a barrel, a senior administration official told Reuters.
The White House is counting on Americans, appalled by images of Ukrainian civilians being attacked by Russian forces, seeing the real culprit as Putin. Biden offered a blunt message to reporters on Tuesday as he traveled to Fort Worth, Texas.
“They’re going to go up,” he said of gasoline prices. “Russia is responsible.”
Oil prices have surged more than 30% since Russia invaded Ukraine and the United States and other countries imposed a raft of sanctions.
Republicans hoping to seize control of the U.S. Congress in the November mid-term elections have been unrelenting in their criticism of Biden’s handling of the energy issue.
In recent weeks, they have begun selling stickers, which can be placed next to gas pump prices, depicting Biden pointing and saying: “I did that.”
Republicans say Biden has the power to unleash far more energy production than is currently taking place in the United States, while administration officials say U.S. oil companies are not taking advantage of all available drilling permits.
The Biden administration is considering a variety of options to try to blunt the impact of high pump prices but is realistic about the pain to come.
“Obviously there are scenarios in which they could go higher. We are trying to make sure that those scenarios don’t .. happen, and (are) trying to do our best to mitigate the effects of Russian aggression,” the official said.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Andrea Shalal and Jeff Mason; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Michelle Price and Lincoln Feast.)
