The war has also made it more difficult for Republicans to message on affordability, an issue they were already losing on.
Trump did not help matters when he did not give a direct answer on where he believes gas prices will be ahead of the midterms, telling Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” that he only hopes so.
“I mean, I think so. It could be, it could be, or the same, or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same,” the president said.
It’s possible Trump was shifting expectations after weeks in which he and his aides had suggested prices would fall, asking the public to brace themselves for increased costs only in the short-term.
But as the war stretches well past the four to six weeks Trump initially floated, this past weekend saw no real progress in turning a fragile ceasefire into a longer deal between the U.S. and Iran. By Monday, the president was instituting a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz for ships coming and going from Iranian ports, an action that might hurt Iran and its allies but would also not lower prices for Americans.
“Candidly, it does worry me,” one Republican operative said, adding that gas prices “are advertised in big, light up signs on every corner, and so it’s something that people tangibly see every single day.”
Read more here, from The Hill’s Julia Manchester.
