Twitter fact-checks Biden gas price claim
Biden's tweet included the most common gas price across the country, but not the national average
President Biden addresses gas prices impacting all Americans
President Biden responds to reports of major oil companies making record-setting profits.
Twitter slapped President Biden’s tweet with a fact check Sunday morning, providing some more context to his claim about low gas prices.
"Right now, the most common price at gas stations across the country is $3.19 per gallon," Biden tweeted. "That’s progress."
Below the tweet, Twitter added some clarification on what "common" gas prices mean. The fact check distinguished between "the most common gas price" – which is $3.19 – and the "average price" – which is $3.80.
President Joe Biden and the White House COVID-19 Response Team participate in a virtual call with the National Governors Association from the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House Complex on Monday, Dec (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The most common is the "mode" gas prices, meaning it happens to be the most frequent across the U.S. but is not necessarily incorrect.
Politicians ultimately have an interest in citing the most common gas price, given that it tends to be lower than the national average and diminishes the higher price.
The issue has become a major headache for Biden and Democrats generally going into this week’s midterm election.
Biden has had a particularly thorny relationship with oil companies since taking office. Late last month, the president criticized major oil companies’ recent earnings, urging them to invest profits in increasing U.S. production and lowering consumer prices or face possible restrictions.
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Biden, arguing that oil companies’ recent profits were a "windfall of war" in Ukraine, said he thinks they have a "responsibility to act in the interest of their consumers, their community and their country." He urged them to direct some profits to boost their U.S. production and refining capacity and to lower gas prices Americans see at the pump.
The average price of gas when Biden took office in January 2021 was $2.37 per gallon according to the US Energy Information Administration.
FOX Business’ Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report.