North Raleigh Today

President Joe Biden is trying to convince America that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the main cause of higher prices at the pump, but many are not buying it.

A recent poll showed twice as many voters blame Biden rather than Putin for high gas prices.

The poll, distributed by the Senate Opportunity Fund (SOF), was conducted March 15-17 and asked the question, "Who do you think bears MORE responsibility for rising gas prices in America?" Almost half (46%) of the respondents blamed Biden, while 23% blamed Putin and 19% blamed both Biden and Putin. The remaining 12% had no opinion.

The pollsters surveyed 800 general election-likely voters across the nation.

The price of gasoline is a key element of consumer inflation. A recent Gasoline Misery Index report showed that average Americans are paying $704 more annually for gas than they did a year ago.

Biden's strategy has been to place blame for American gas prices on Putin.

"I know gas prices are painful," the president said in a recent tweet. "My plan will help ease that pain today and safeguard against it tomorrow. I'll continue to use every tool at my disposal to protect you from Putin's price hike. And I'm calling on Congress to put aside partisanship. Let's meet this moment together." 

Biden plans to release up to 180 million barrels of crude oil from the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) over the next six months in an effort to curb high gas prices, he said in a YouTube video on Friday, April 1. He noted that the action would "serve as a bridge until the end of the year when domestic production ramps up."

As of Wednesday, the average price for regular gasoline in North Carolina is $3.93 per gallon, an American Automobile Association report said. That price is down from the peak set in early March.