Biden taken aback by multiple reporters suggesting oil reserve release is meant to help Democrats win general election
Former Vice-President Joe Biden was taken aback in the hours after he told the nation’s most-watched cable news show Wednesday that a sudden release of oil reserves from the U.S. meant the country had more “liquidity” to help Democratic candidates win the general election.
Biden said he did not know the energy release was about Democrats, when host Chuck Todd asked him “if you know anything about the oil reserve release.”
Biden also suggested the oil was “a lot” of “liquidity” Democrats needed to keep their own fundraising off the air.
“We’re trying to make sure that we’re not just kind of out there and making noise,” Biden said. He added that he had “no idea” the oil reserve release was about Democrats.
Biden also insisted that he was not against the oil and gas industry.
“As a former member of this Congress, I was for the energy industry. I’m not in favor of the oil industry,” he said.
“I do support the energy industry, I do support the energy industry,” Biden said again moments later. “I’m the leader of a party that has been very successful in this country,” he said. “I mean, the energy industry is an important industry, and I will support it.”
The oil and gas industry has said that the energy release and other moves it has taken since President Donald Trump took office have put the industry at a competitive disadvantage, and that it will continue to grow.
The Hill found that during the Obama administration, the U.S. held oil reserves of about 1.1 million barrels per day, while Saudi Arabia had more than 400 million barrels per day.
Biden suggested that the energy release is part of a political maneuver, as he has argued.
“I don’t know if it’s a political maneuver. I know that it’s a strategic move
