Gov. DeSantis upbeat about gas prices despite OPEC woes, Joe Biden’s Venezuela pivot

Ron DeSantis.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has nothing but good things to say about gas prices in Florida, noting they are among the cheapest in the United States.

The state is enjoying a one-month gas tax holiday, saving drivers 25.3 cents a gallon.

“If you look at our prices,” DeSantis said, “if you look at the prices in Florida since that’s gone into effect and been internalized into the market, we have the fifth-lowest gas prices in the country right now.”

During a press conference in Nokomis, the Governor noted those were the lowest prices in recent history.

“I actually saw it at $2.99,” DeSantis said as the crowd whooped. “I have not seen it under three dollars in a long time. Certainly, I don’t think, since Jan. 20 a year and a half ago.”

DeSantis may have tweaked his new storm recovery political ally, President Joe Biden, with that seemingly obligatory nod to low gas prices under predecessor Donald Trump.

But aside from that gentle gibe and a nod to “sustained inflation,” DeSantis had no other criticisms for Biden’s approach to oil policy Thursday, even as he expressed concern about the decision of the OPEC+ cartel to cut production by 2 million barrels a day.

“Unfortunately, I think that this is likely to go up, between now until the end of this year, going into next year,” DeSantis said. “That’s just what I would bet. I hope that’s not the case. But I think there’s a lot of ominous signs on the horizon.”

President Biden is exploring a pivot to Venezuela, exploring cutting sanctions amid a throttling of OPEC+ imports. DeSantis did not mention this move Thursday, which would seem to fly in the face of Republican insistence that the U.S. not do business with that regime.

His immediate predecessor as Governor did condemn the potential lifeline to Caracas, however.

“How low will Joe Biden go to try to protect Democrats in November? Instead of supporting America’s energy independence, he’s making nice with a murderous regime to fix the mess he’s created,” tweeted U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

Time was when DeSantis was vocal in opposing a thaw with the “murderous” and “brutal” Nicolás Maduro.

“Many Americans and a lot of Floridians are very angered by the Biden administration’s recent attempts to legitimize the brutal Maduro regime in Venezuela,” said DeSantis in March 2022.

“This is part of a familiar pattern of the Biden administration thumbing its nose at millions of people here in Florida, just like when it took FARC off the terrorism list and didn’t lift a finger to help the democracy protesters in Cuba. Now, Biden is going hat in hand to legitimize Nicolás Maduro, who is responsible for countless atrocities and has driven Venezuela into the ground. The United States should be energy independent, but instead gas prices have been going up consistently since January 20, 2021.”

“Now we’re in a situation where people are really hurting and rather than acknowledge that their policies have been ineffective, they’re going to Maduro and they’re going to the ayatollahs in Iran,” DeSantis contended. “The answer is American energy independence, not propping up Nicolás Maduro.”