The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee tweeted a graph, with the caption “Thanks, Joe Biden,” that shows gas prices falling two pennies per gallon in the past two weeks, The Liberty Daily reported.
Thanks, @JoeBiden. pic.twitter.com/0iHwTLv7fB
— DCCC (@dccc) December 2, 2021
The graph shows that the nation’s average price gas price fell from $3.40 per gallon to $3.38 per gallon from Nov. 15 to Nov. 29.
The DCCC likely tried to claim that Biden’s policies, including his order to release 50 million barrels of gasoline from the nation’s strategic reserve (enough to supply American demand for fewer than three days), had reduced the average gas price.
But the chart demonstrates nothing because the time period fails to account for the skyrocketing gas prices that Biden caused in the past year.
Plus, average gas prices commonly fluctuate within a much wider range, so a two-cent change could come from any number of factors.
During former President Donald Trump‘s final year in office, gas prices averaged $2.17 per gallon, Statista reported. That price has risen to $3.38 per gallon under Biden’s leadership.
I absolutely cannot get over the @dccc thinking it was a good idea to tweet that gas prices have dropped TWO CENTS and thanking Joe Biden for it.
Because families experience inflation are going to be grateful that gas prices have dropped two cents after rising $1 this year. https://t.co/bvTHbLXJTc
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) December 2, 2021
The DCCC employed several deceptive tactics to manipulate the public’s perception: the chart’s time period does not allow for significant comparisons and its gas price only shows fluctuations between $3.415 and $3.375.
Even Business Insider, a left-leaning outlet, admitted that “the chart’s X-axis makes [the decrease] look more dramatic,” while “the change appears negligible” when viewed at “proper scale.”
One Twitter user, Mike Morrison, mocked the DCCC by posting his own chart that showed his losing two-tenths of a pound since Thanksgiving.
Thanks @dccc, inspiring me to track my weight loss https://t.co/Bhw3Jarfww pic.twitter.com/I2ryaBXJwg
— Mike Morrison ? (@MikeKMorrison) December 2, 2021
