A protester in the audience was heard challenging him on his climate policies
President Joe Biden had a testy exchange with a climate protester at the end of a last-minute rally to boost support for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul just two days ahead of the midterm elections.
The president spoke at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, touting his achievements in office and lambasting Republicans, particularly Hochul’s rival, Rep. Lee Zeldin.
President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022, at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, N.Y. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky / AP Newsroom)
While wrapping up the speech, a climate protester shouted something at Biden that made him seem visibly annoyed.
“No more drilling,” Biden said.
After the protester continued to shout at him, he shot back, sounding even more irritable: “There is no more drilling. I haven’t formed any new drilling.”
The protester could then be heard making objections to “offshore drilling” in the Antarctic and the Gulf of Mexico.
“That was before I was president. We’re trying to work on that to get that done,” Biden responded.
The comments amounted to a doubling down of Biden’s climate agenda ahead on the eve of the midterms despite evidence that it has, in part, contributed to a rise in gasoline prices.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told FOX Business last month that major petroleum refinery snags and policies disincentivizing more fossil fuel production or nationwide refinery capacity have contributed to the price uptick this year.
President Joe Biden and the White House COVID-19 Response Team participate in a virtual call with the National Governors Association from the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House Complex on Monday, Dec (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
When Biden took office in January 2021, the average price of gas was $2.37 per gallon, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The president has blamed the rise on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and corporate greed.
Last Friday, Biden said coal plants were too expensive to operate, and “we’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America” in order to shift to wind power.
After some pushback, White House walked back the president’s comments. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a press release the following day that Biden’s comments “have been twisted to suggest a meaning that was not intended; he regrets it if anyone hearing these remarks took offense.”
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She added: “The President was commenting on a fact of economics and technology: as it has been from the earliest days as an energy superpower, America is once against in the midst of an energy transition.”
FOX Business’ Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
