Republicans Laugh at Biden For Saying U.S. Will Need Oil ‘For At Least Another Decade’

Several Republicans, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, outright laughed in response to part of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address when he said America will “need oil for at least another decade.”

The outburst took place as Biden discussed policies calling for businesses to pay more taxes and share more profits

“Have you noticed big oil just reported its profits, record profits?” Biden said. “Last year, they made $200 billion in the midst of a global energy crisis. I think it’s outrageous. Why? They invested too little of that profit to increase domestic production, and when I talked to a couple of them. They say, ‘We’re afraid you’re going to shut down all the oil wells, all the oil refineries anyway, so why should we invest in them?'”

“I said, ‘We’re going to need oil for at least another decade,'” said Biden, which prompted laughter from the chamber, before he added, “And beyond that. We’re gonna need it.”

The interaction with Big Oil executives that Biden described was not in his prepared remarks as published by Axios before the completion of his speech, so it appears they were off-script.

Afterward, he continued his speech without responding directly to the laughter. He mentioned business leaders used record profits for stock buybacks.

Watch above, via CNN.