White House Press Secretary Jay Carney suggested Newt Gingrich is lying when he claims that he could reduce gasoline prices to $2.50 per gallon.
Carney, who spoke during today’s White House briefing, did not specifically refer to Gingrich, saying instead that anybody who says that a strategy exists that can make the price at the pump $2.50 is “lying.” But Gingrich has made his claimed ability to reduce prices to $2.50 a gallon a major plank of his campaign, and the comment was clearly directed at the former speaker.
Washington politicos rarely resort to the verb “to lie” when referring to their opponents’ statements. The tactic usually is to call something “misleading” or “untruthful.”
Carney’s tough wording suggests the enormity of the threat the White House perceives from rising gas prices and the pain for voters at the pump. Carney and other White House officials have repeatedly insisted that there is little the president can do to stem the increases, and have suggested a longer term “all of the above” approach that includes not only drilling but development of alternative fuel sources.