At the end of April, Florida Rep. Val Demings (D) announced that she was launching an investigation into skyrocketing gas prices in the state. Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s (R) campaign has responded to the announcement, saying that they’ll be reaching across the aisle to help aid in the investigation. In pointing out where the rising gas prices stem from, Rubio's team argues that Demings is “the culprit.”
The Florida Democrat joined a number of other Democratic members of Congress including Florida Rep. Kathy Castor (D) to introduce the Oil and Gas industry Antitrust Act. The legislation would “require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate price manipulation in the gasoline market, including refinery capacity reductions and market monopoly conditions.”
However, the Rubio campaign has responded, commenting that it shouldn’t take long to find the cause of the rise in gas prices.
According to them, they have “zeroed in on a three-term Democrat member of the House of Representatives who joined the Congressional Progressive Caucus as soon as she got to Washington” as “the culprit.”
Citing that Demings has not called for unleashing American oil production, that she voted to add a $10.25 per barrel tax on oil, and that she agreed with President Biden that this is “Putin’s price hike” among other reasons, the Rubio campaign believes that Demings has negatively contributed to skyrocketing gas prices.
In a statement, Elizabeth Gregory, the communications director for the campaign, argued that “Val Demings can look far and wide to find the culprit that hiked up the price of gas, but when she gets to the end of her search, she’ll find her far-left, anti-American oil production agenda is to blame.”
Moreover, the team says that “Demings is complicity in the inflation burdening Florida families, and she’s joined Biden in abdicating responsibility.”
