Reporter Asks Psaki if ‘Democratic Base’ Will Object to Saving on Gas Prices With Biden Policy That’s Similar to Trump’s

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked if the “Democratic base” might object to President Joe Biden using a policy similar to one former President Donald Trump used in order to save on gas prices.

Psaki briefed reporters aboard Air Force One Tuesday en route to Iowa, where the president was preparing to deliver remarks on “Lowering Energy Costs for Working Families” at POET Bioprocessing in Menlo.

Ms. Psaki previewed the speech at the top of the gaggle, telling reporters that Biden would be announcing “that the EPA Administrator is planning to allow E15 gasoline — gasoline that uses a 15 percent ethanol blend — to be sold this summer.  This is the latest step in expanding Americans’ access to affordable fuel supply and bringing relief to Americans suffering from Putin’s price hike at the pump.”

That action is very similar to one that Trump’s EPA took in 2019, although not on an emergency basis, as one reporter noted. He asked Psaki if the Democratic base might be “disillusioned” by a move so similar to Trump’s that is supported by many Republicans:

Q Can I ask you one more about ethanol? This is a — it wasn’t an emergency suspension, but this is something the Trump administration did. They allowed year-round sales of E15. It was overturned by federal court.

So, I’m just wondering — you know, the politics of this, this is something that was also supported by several Midwestern Republican senators in the Senate. So is there any fear that the Democratic base might be a little bit disillusioned by doing something that has been supported by Republicans and was done by the Trump administration, even given the circumstances with rising gas prices?

MS. PSAKI: I think our view is that people — the American people are going to put gas in their tanks, in their cars across the country, including across the Midwest where many of these 2,300 pumps are, where — that have E15 — the E15 gasoline option. And if they can pay 10 cents less a gallon, then they’ll appreciate that. I’m not sure they’re looking at that through a political lens.

As the reporter indicated, a lower court overturned the Trump policy, and the Supreme Court upheld that ruling.

Watch above via The White House.