What I’ve found even more amazing is how so many Americans are able to perform the mental gymnastics necessary to avoid taking responsibility for the consequences of their vote. My MAGA mother was lamenting the sorry state of education here in Arkansas just this past weekend. When I gently reminded her she voted for the guy who is trying to dismantle the Department of Education she replied quietly, “The alternative [Harris] would have been worse.”
I imagine there will be some people who vote against Trump because of gas prices. But I’ve long ago given up hope a significant number of Americans will deflect blame because admitting Trump is bad at his job means admitting they were duped.
If they could claim they were duped by a clever campaign of disinformation that was imposed on them by some evil genius, that might not be so very bad. But to be really honest, they would have to acknowledge that they willingly, nay eagerly, swallowed great mounds of complete nonsense from one of the most notorious hucksters of his time and his ragtag gang of really, really stupid people (plus one or two semi-clever advisors). Who among us would have the integrity and grit to walk that path, especially in full view of the friends and family who had not swallowed the swill? Of course, if you had integrity and grit you wouldn’t need to walk such a path.
For anyone interested in the subject I suggest seeking out Matt Randolph who goes by Mr Global on social media. He’s an oil and gas expert who breaks down the issues clearly and concisely. He leans left so he isn’t spewing MAGA talking points.
Back in July 2025, Czarcasm was right to note that MAGA wasn’t interested in an honorable exit, and I suspect that will remain the case even if gas prices were to skyrocket. I imagine there’s some theoretical point where MAGA would abandon Trump, but time and time again I’ve been disappointed.
And that’s something that was brought up in my thread back in July as well as other threads over the years. For a lot of people, abandoning MAGA means having your friends turn their back on you which isn’t an easy thing to do.
I’ve heard MAGA blame the Democrats for the overturn of Roe v. Wade. We’ve all heard MAGA politicians, including individuals appointed by Trump, argue about a terrible policy enacted during the Biden administration only to be corrected by someone else who pointed out Trump was president at that time. These people don’t live in reality, therefore we cannot reasonably expect them to react rationally to changing circumstances.
In my neighborhood (3 gas stations) prices actually spiked right after the STOU address (from around $2.40 to $2.90) and now have settled around $2.65. So far.
ETA: For some reason Costco is $3.16, according to Gas Buddy.
That quote was from 23 hours ago, Brent crude is currently $83.75.
In my area there has been no price increase at the pump since a one cent increase on March 1, but prices are set to rise an average of 6 cents a liter at midnight tonight (that’s almost 23 cents a US gallon) which is the largest single-day increase we’ve seen in a long time.
However, CNN doesn’t think gas prices will skyrocket like they did when Russia invaded Ukraine, mainly because the US can choose to end the war any time it wants if things get out of hand:
Will they skyrocket or just return to say the $5 range? I think the jury is out. If say the Iranians take out Saudi oil fields, then all bets are off. Whether or not the US produces as much oil as it uses is completely irrelevant. The US has always imported oil and has always exported oil. The refineries can only take so much US sweet oil as many are geared up to process imported sour oil. Moreover, US producers are hardly likely to charge less than the going world rate and why would they?
Politically, even the least astute among us will be able to make a connection between rising gas prices and a regional war in the Middle East. I really don’t see how this can do anything but hurt the warmonger’s party.
I hope this is coherent and on topic, but I’m not sure I’ll get it there.
If oil prices go up, and stay up, that will raise gasoline prices, which people don’t like. It is also looking to raise natural gas prices, which people also don’t like. Prices going up tend to get blamed on the party in power, regardless of how much influence they had on the rise in prices[1]. That’s all pretty standard, and should not be controversial.
One of Trump’s biggest backers are the oil companies and their interests. An increase in oil prices are good for them. A sustained increase in oil prices will also bring idle wells back online, which will increase employment and wages for petroleum workers.
An increase in oil prices can also increase tax revenue for states with large petroleum industries. This doesn’t break down neatly on a red/blue line, because Colorado and California are blue states with large petroleum industries. However, the petroleum industry of even liberal states tend to be much more conservative.
A sustained increase in petroleum prices will also hasten the move toward cheaper renewables. Of course the current regime is fighting against renewables in other ways.
The point of all that is (if this regime is even thinking this strategically) that rising oil prices are not all bad, and are in fact good for many of Trumps supporters, both corporate and individuals.
