The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board laid into President Donald Trump on Tuesday for trying to blame skyrocketing gas prices on “Big Oil.”
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It’s a complaint the board expects to hear from the left, they noted, but not from a Republican president to cover for the global energy chaos triggered by his war against Iran.
The board is referring to Trump’s remarks on Monday, in which he said, “When you look at one company where they made 12 times what they made the year before, they ought to give some of that back to the public. And they better cut the retail price, the consumer price.” Which, the board wrote, comes shortly after “he had criticized Chevron CEO Mike Wirth for not praising Mr. Trump as the reason for his company’s success.”
Oil profits always rise during energy shocks, the board wrote, but for Trump to demand they surrender those profits doesn’t make sense.
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“As it happens, oil and gas giants are distributing their profits to the public via dividends to shareholders, many of whom are retirees,” they wrote. “Chevron this week announced a bonus for its employees. But speaking of someone making much more than the year before, would the President care to comment on his profits from his cryptocurrency plays and other ventures while in office?”
Ultimately, the board wrote, Trump has a lot of nerve calling oil profits unethical when he has used every lever he can think of to profit from the White House: “Oil and gas giants make money by producing a valuable commodity. Some uncharitable populist might say Mr. Trump is commoditizing the Presidency.”
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