Gas prices hit record low under Donald Trump and soared after Joe Biden took office – how they changed costs revealed

TRUMP supporters use the price of gas as a motivator to vote for him, but neither president has much say in the cost under their reign.

Instead, both faced major events that caused strain on market value, raising the cost for Biden and lowering them for Trump.

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Donald Trump is often praised for the lower costs at the pump during his presidency[/caption]

Reuters

Trump supporters often use the hike in prices per gallon under Biden as a reason not to vote for him[/caption]

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However, both presidents faced circumstances that either helped or hurt them, and they had little say in the overall cost[/caption]

Voters still use the cost of gas for either president as a reason to vote for one and not the other, though.

“Perceptions of gas prices and the president’s role in them is something that’s really filtered through political partisanship,” Chris Franklin, the director at the Marquette Law School Poll, told USA Today.

“Most parties use them when prices are up and when the other party is in the White House.”

The cost of gas per gallon is determined by a market value, which leaves the president with very little say in the cost.

Trump, having been in office during the pandemic, saw gas prices dip to under $2 per gallon in some states after incoming and outgoing travel was halted to curb the spreading of COVID-19.

Because of the limited traffic, many suppliers were locked into a “price feud,” causing some states to drop their prices per gallon by as much as $2.

Voters, being able to relate to the ease of the burden at the pump, remember Trump fondly as a pioneer in a smoother economy.

Trump’s daughter, Lara, made a speech this week detailing her father’s “success” in lowering gas prices.

“As I speak here tonight, many of our fellow Americans don’t know how they’ll pay for their next trip to the grocery store,” she said.

She remarked that under Trump’s rule, “gas hit a lot of $1.87 a gallon.”

While Biden, on the other hand, faced an issue that caused prices to soar, though it wasn’t anything he could have avoided.

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, which drastically affected the supply of crude oil to the United States.

To help avoid a jump in prices at the pumps, Biden decided to tap into the nation’s emergency oil reserve – up to 180 million barrels of oil – but it did little to stop the uptick in costs.

Biden also put pressure on Congress to install a “gas tax holiday” for three months to help drivers adjust, though nothing ever came of it.

Franklin said the main reason candidates and debaters would use gas prices as an incentive to vote for one and not the other is the reliability of paying at the pump.

“They are a good and tangible sign of cost of living,” Franklin said of the costs per gallon.

“You drive past a gas station, you see the price. You fill up your tank, pay the price…and so it’s one of those things about economics where people do see it constantly and feel it in their purchases.”

While Trump may be able to boast lower prices per gallon, Biden is left without a counterargument.

Franklin said dipping into oil reserves and a gas tax holiday that never went into effect wouldn’t be effective talking points, especially for those who aren’t familiar with political or economic language.

“Maybe at the margins that helped to hold prices down,” Franklin said of Biden’s actions lowering gas prices.

“That is something that maybe shows up to economists analyzing the macroeconomy. It’s not likely something that people have any personal experience with or appreciation of.”