Republicans in competitive races are increasingly breaking with President Donald Trump over the Iran war as soaring fuel prices squeeze voters.
In a Thursday piece for The Bulwark, Joe Perticone argued that GOP lawmakers had spent months seemingly determined to ignore the spike in gas prices since the conflict began. "Their willful ignorance is starting to fade," he wrote.
Perticone reported that a growing number of Republicans running in battleground House and Senate contests are distancing themselves from the president on the war, pointing to pain at the pump as a chief reason. Gasoline averaged $4.48 a gallon nationally as of Thursday, while diesel has topped $6.50 and hit $7 or $8 in some states.
With fighting ongoing and the Strait of Hormuz still contested, the White House has leaned on what Perticone described as weak domestic fixes, including Trump-backed discount gas stations he dismissed as a public relations effort. Diesel, he argued, poses the far bigger economic and political problem.
Politico reported Wednesday that the Trump administration is weighing a 90-day ban on U.S. diesel exports to prop up domestic supply through the end of the year. Perticone spoke with senators who were cool to the idea.
"Of the Republican senators who understood what such a proposal would mean, none I spoke with regarded it as viable," Perticone wrote.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned the plan would hurt U.S. refiners.
"I think it would end up driving up costs," Cruz said. "It would have massive harm to the refining industry. We refine more diesel than we consume, and it would end up forcing refiners to reduce production. So it would backfire badly."
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) called the proposal "a gimmick" while Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) sounded unenthusiastic.
"The kind of analysis they should be making is, 'Is it a net benefit?'" Hoeven told reporters. "And that should determine what you do."