The White House, rather than admitting its mistakes on the oil industry, is staging "publicity stunts," including the announcement that rules on ethanol-blend gasoline will be lifted this summer, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Newsmax on Thursday.
"One way to identify strong leaders is when they make a mistake, they admit it and go on," Burchett told "Wake Up America." "They admit it and go on and the American public is very receptive to that, and I think very forgiving, but [with] the arrogance in this White House, all they're doing is publicity stunts."
President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will issue an emergency waiver that would allow the sales of 15% ethanol blend gasoline, which is typically banned during the summer months because it can make smog worse in higher temperatures.
The move is expected to save drivers an average of a dime a gallon for gas. Most stations selling ethanol-blend gas are in the Midwest and the South.
"I think the only thing that Democrats claim to love more than the environment is their jobs," Burchett said. "This latest stunt of putting ethanol in our gasoline, you know environmentally, it's not as sound as just running regular gasoline to your engine."
The move also makes it clear that the administration is "grasping at straws" because the American public "knows that they've messed up," he added.
Meanwhile, Biden continues to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for inflation and the rising gas prices in the United States, but Burchett said the real blame lies with overregulation.
"If we could reduce here the regulations and turn the spigots on, and literally just flood the market with fuel, the price would come down," Burchett said. "But as Joe Biden said when he was debating Bernie Sanders, [he's] going to raise the price to $7-$8 a gallon and drive these companies out so we can start getting on electric vehicles."
And Burchett said that's "exactly what he's doing," because "when a hardcore liberal tells you what he's gonna do, dadgummit, we ought to believe him, because that's what he's doing."
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