Media Matters did the math. On September 8, it found that Fox News and Fox Business figures told viewers that higher gas prices were a small and short-term problem at least 188 times since Trump acted on his whim to start a war with Iran. “They’ve claimed repeatedly that soaring prices were temporary and would come back to Earth as soon as some constantly shifting goal was achieved,” Media Matters reported.
It wasn’t just Fox. Media Matters caught other right-wingers in the media such as Carl Higbie, Bennie Johnson and Dave Rubin joining in the assurances.
For example: Fox Business host Charles Payne predicted in June that gasoline would be “well under $3.50 by the election – maybe even lower.” In July, he said it would be close to $2.50 a gallon “before the end of the year.”
Fox liar extraordinaire Kayleigh McEnany told viewers in April that “President Trump can and will bring that [$4 gas] down when he wraps this up. He says two to three weeks is what he is asking for.”
Sean Hannity said in May, on his radio show, “Scott Bessent is vowing — he says it's only going to be a matter of weeks and that high gas prices will come down very quickly, which I agree with.”
As I write this, on September 17, the national average cost for gasoline is $4.4386, with no sign of going down. A Washington Post headline today states, “Gas prices are about to take a big jump, analysts say, with the worst still to come.”
Near the end of the video above, Fox admits the truth, probably just briefly. “Is there a way that Americans can go to the polls and not look at gas prices?” a reporter or anchor asks. Spoiler alert: No.
I don’t know when or if Fox viewers will finally see through the BS. Maybe they’ll find a way to blame Democrats, the knee-jerk Republican response when their own policies go south.
