In context: Joe Biden’s ‘fair share’ comments on gas prices

Conservative media outlets and a number of Republican lawmakers are sharing a misleading, abbreviated clip of President Joe Biden talking about gas prices during a recent address.

The shortened clip they’re circulating make it seem as though Biden said the high prices at the gas pump in recent months are what Americans should be paying, or that they should pay more.

The full video of Biden’s speech shows him saying something different — that he wants to make sure that Americans are "not being gouged for gas." 

The remarks in question came as Biden visited Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 8 to promote the new bipartisan infrastructure law he signed in November. 

Here’s what he said on gas prices, in context and with the relevant portion bolded:

"Two weeks ago, I announced the largest-ever release of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to increase the supply of oil to help bring down prices. And I met with our friends around the world. Other countries joined us. 

"And those savings are starting to reach drivers. Now, today, the average price you’re paying here in Kansas City is below $2 a gallon, $3 dollars a gallon. It’s down to $2.90 a gallon, 20% down from — cents (down) from — a month ago. 

"Nationally, prices are down 7 cents a gallon and continue to fall. We’re making progress. We’re going to keep at it to ensure the American people are paying their fair share for gas — not being gouged for gas."  

The full context of Biden’s Dec. 8 remarks indicates that he was talking about working to lower the price of gas to a more reasonable amount for Americans, not raise or maintain it. The line was met with applause from the crowd at the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.

But conservatives media sites, pundits and politicians framed the Democratic president’s words differently on Twitter. They shared a shortened clip from the remarks that cut out Biden’s final words — "not being gouged for gas" — and left a misleading impression.

Posts sharing similarly trimmed videos or incomplete quotes also spread widely on Facebook and Instagram, where they got tens of thousands of interactions, according to CrowdTangle, a social media insights tool. They were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

Most responsible for the spread of the abbreviated clip on Twitter was the conservative website Townhall, according to Hoaxy, a social media analysis tool that maps the spread of tweets.

The website tweeted the clip just after 4 p.m. EST, writing, "BIDEN: ‘We're making progress. We're going to keep at it to ensure the American people are paying their fair share for gas.’"

In the minutes that followed, another conservative website, the Post Millennial, uploaded a similarly abbreviated clip. Disclose.tv followed suit. And the retweets rolled in: 

"Hear that Americans? You're simply paying your ‘fair share’ at the gas pump now," wrote Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., in a repost of Townhall’s tweet.

"Biden wants Americans to pay ‘their fair share for gas,’" added commentator Benny Johnson, who works for Turning Point USA and hosts a show on Newsmax.

"Paying historic prices at the gas station is just a way to pay your fair share, Michiganders!" the official Michigan GOP account said. "This is what Democrat ‘leadership’ looks and sounds like."

Within the hour, a White House official jumped into the conversation.

"Lazy, deceptive, editing by @townhallcom," said Mike Gwin, the White House’s rapid response director, in a tweet a little more than 30 minutes after the Townhall post went up. Gwin’s tweet included a longer video showing the final part of Biden’s sentence that the Townhall clip left out. 

Lazy, deceptive, editing by @townhallcom to omit that the President was noting falling gas prices, and actually said:

"We're making progress, we're going to keep at it to ensure American people are paying their fair share for gas **not being gouged for gas**” https://t.co/MEHxU2ecmW pic.twitter.com/pYQYX9vj1v

— Mike Gwin (@MGwin46) December 8, 2021

Soon after, the Post Millennial deleted its tweet, and so did Disclose.tv. 

But Townhall kept its video up. And though it omitted Biden saying "not being gouged by gas," the clip went on to receive nearly 117,000 views on Twitter in a day’s time. It was shared by numerous Republican members of Congress, including Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

A version of the abbreviated clip even reached Fox News, where host Laura Ingraham played it for her viewers as she handed off to late-night host Greg Gutfeld on Dec. 8.

In response to an inquiry from PolitiFact, a Townhall spokesperson said the outlet was "directly quoting the president in our tweet," and that the website had added an extended video showing Biden’s complete remarks on gas prices in a thread under its original tweet. The follow-up tweet wrongly claimed that omitting Biden’s final words did not change the meaning of his sentence.