Falling Pump Prices Blunt Trump’s Inflation Attacks on Harris

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(Bloomberg) — Steadily falling gasoline prices are providing a boost to Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign for the nation’s top job as Donald Trump seeks to antagonize consumers tired of inflation by attacking her record on energy.

Retail gasoline prices in the United States fell to a six-month low and are expected to continue falling amid weaker-than-expected demand and a deteriorating outlook for crude oil used to make motor fuel. The average price of unleaded gasoline was $3.296 a gallon as of Thursday, down more than 10% from its peak this year in April, according to data from the auto club AAA.

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The drop could give Harris a boost among voters who aren’t shy about blaming the White House for high gasoline prices, a key sign of how inflation is eroding their wallets, said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group and an adviser to the George W. Bush administration.

Nearly three in 10 voters in swing states see gas prices as their most important economic issue, according to a new Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll. In a sign of what could be coming in the form of changes to pump prices, gasoline futures in New York fell to their lowest level in three and a half years.

“Harris has gotten very lucky,” McNally said in an interview. “The most obvious price in life is the decline.”

Trump has repeatedly attacked Democrats over post-pandemic energy prices, vowing to “drill, baby, drill” and take other steps to shore up fuel supplies. The former president vowed Thursday to cut energy prices in half if reelected, and pledged to approve new drilling, pipelines and refineries.

“Kamala Harris can’t lower the price of anything because her energy policies make everything more expensive,” Trump said in a speech to the Economic Club of New York. Trump’s attacks on energy and inflation are likely to continue in the run-up to Tuesday night, when he and Harris are scheduled to face off in their first debate.

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Despite the recent decline in prices, gasoline is still about 40% higher than when President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. When contacted, the Harris campaign pointed to an earlier statement that Trump’s economic plan would “make life more expensive” for Americans by, among other things, raising the cost of gasoline.

The low gasoline prices are a major blow to Trump, who has not hesitated to criticize the Biden administration for moves such as revoking a key permit for TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone pipeline and cutting back on oil and natural gas leasing on federal lands.

“This issue is relevant because Republicans keep raising it,” said Kevin Book, managing director of consulting firm ClearView Energy Partners in Washington. “They feel this issue resonates with voters who drive longer distances and have lower incomes.”

As many as 30 states could see gasoline prices fall below $3 by Election Day in November, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at fuel tracking firm GasBuddy.

“The timing seems very good,” De Haan said. “We could see the national average price drop below $3 a gallon for the first time since Biden took office. We’re talking about some metrics that Americans haven’t seen in a long time.”

—With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron and Akayla Gardner.

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