MS NOW host Stephanie Ruhle pushed back after President Donald Trump suggested today’s gas prices aren’t “very high, relatively speaking,” arguing that he’s not facing what Americans are feeling after rising fuel costs tied to the war with Iran.
When President Donald Trump was asked earlier this week about the cost of fuel and the strain it’s putting on Americans, he told reporters, “If you notice, the price is not very high, relatively speaking. I mean, it’s lower than during the Biden administration.”
Stephanie Ruhle, the host of MS NOW, didn’t let that framing stand.
“Were prices high during the Biden administration? Sure. Specifically, when Russia invaded Ukraine in the summer of 2022, they were high,” Ruhle said, pointing to the peak of what drivers experienced under Joe Biden. At their peak, gas prices under Biden hit $5.07 per gallon, an all-time high.
Trump’s argument may hinge on comparison, but Ruhle said it misses the reason people are frustrated right now. “The American people were very aware,” she said. “The American people were struggling, and they were angry.”
In her telling, the anger wasn’t limited to one line item at the pump. Ruhle said Americans were “angry about gas prices and grocery prices and healthcare prices.”
The dispute lands on something more than numbers—it’s about what leaders choose to emphasize when everyday costs rise. Trump directed attention to a relative measure versus the Biden era. Ruhle centered the lived reality of price pressure and the broader squeeze Americans felt across their bills.
Stephanie Ruhle Donald Trump gas prices Iran war MS NOW Joe Biden Russia invasion Ukraine fuel costs inflation American public