CNBCâs Joe Kernen questioned Rep. Steve Scaliseâs (R-La.) memory on Gas Prices as the lawmaker claimed prices rose to $6 a gallon two years ago.
The two were speaking on âSquawk Boxâ when Kernen pressed Scalise on Republicansâ chances of staying in control of the House after the midterms.
âDo you think thereâs any way that your party holds on in November to the House?â Kernen asked.
âAbsolutely, and look, itâs a path that is focused on turnout No. 1 and delivery. What weâve delivered to finally start turning this mess around that we inherited a year and a half ago,â Scalise said. âPeople that will remember, you go back two years ago, we were paying almost $6 a gallon for gasoline. Right now itâs in the threes. Obviously, weâve seen a jump with the Iran conflict.â
âWhen were we paying $6?â Kernen asked.
According to AAA, the average gas price nationally is $4.30. The average was just under $3 before Operation Epic Fury was launched Feb. 28.
âTwo and a half years ago,â Scalise said about the high Gas Prices.
âI donât think we were at six,â Kernen said. âThat wasnât the average price.â
Watch:
Scalise doubled down on his claim.
âWe were over 30% below where we were just two years ago. Today we are 30% below where we where two years. Itâs still going to go lower when Iran gets resolved and the Strait of Hormuz gets open,â the lawmaker said. âBut at the same time did anybody want a nuclear-armed Iran? I think if you ask most normal people they would say absolutely not, when they just slaughtered 30,000 of their own people. They were about to get a nuclear weapon and President Trump stopped that, but thatâs going to get resolved.â
âYou must have been on vacation in California. I think two years ago in April of 2024, we were at about $3.65, so weâre actually above where we were then,â Kernen said.
âWe were well into the fives under Biden,â Scalise said.
âAt one point. Not two years ago,â Kernen said. âWe were at $3.65 two years ago.â
âMost of energy production shut down. Energy in the Gulf of America was shut down, Alaska was shut down. We opened that up, by the way, in the working families tax cut,â Scalise said.
âRight, but exactly two years ago was $3.65-$3.67,â Kernen replied. âAnd Iâm not saying that $4 or whatever it is now, that the long-term goals that weâre trying to accomplish in the Middle East, Iâm saying itâs not worth it for a brief time. But itâs definitely going to hurt people, obviously, this summer.â
