“President” Biden went off-script several times during his State of the Union address last night, prompting some of the strongest reactions from the politically mixed attendees. But one moment was particularly shocking because it was an incredible admission.
The moment of candor occurred as Biden worked through his prepared remarks on the evil oil industry. According to the official transcript, he was supposed to bash the fossil fuel producers like so: “You may have noticed that Big Oil just reported record profits. Last year, they made $200 billion in the midst of a global energy crisis. It’s outrageous. They invested too little of that profit to increase domestic production and keep gas prices down. Instead, they used those record profits to buy back their own stock, rewarding their CEOs and shareholders.” This was the equivalent of red meat for the vegan Earth-first crowd.
But then, Biden began ad libbing. “We’re still going to need oil and gas for a while,” he allowed, and, “We’re going to need domestic oil for at least another decade.” This elicited boos from Earthist Democrats and cheers and even laughter from reality-based Republicans.
During these off-the-cuff remarks, Biden’s admission came in the form of an anecdote, recounted here by Fox News:
The president then told an anecdote in which an oil executive asked him why his company should invest in fossil fuel projects in light of the negative business atmosphere for oil and gas projects. Biden said he responded that oil and gas would be needed for years to come.
“They said, ‘well, we’re afraid you’re going to shut down all the oil wells and all the oil refineries. So, why should we invest in them?’ I said, ‘we’re going to need oil for at least another decade and beyond,'” Biden added.
Did you get that? Biden admitted that the oil industry — which remains crucial to our entire way of life, no matter what the Earthist fantasizers say — will not invest in domestic production because they don’t trust him.
Biden has earned every drop of that distrust with his egregious actions to eradicate domestic fossil fuel production beginning the day he was inaugurated. He kicked off the hostilities by shutting down the Keystone XL Pipeline project — costing thousands of jobs and throwing away billions of dollars. He has bashed, threatened, and throttled the oil industry ever since.
Related: Biden Aide Calls Oil Companies’ Refusal to Increase Drilling ‘Un-American’
Nor is “Big Oil” the only example of partnership and trust demolished by Biden’s heavy-handed policies.
Biden sent a similar message — that the U.S. government is fickle and unreliable — to the entire world when he turned tail and bugged out of Afghanistan, leaving desperate allies clinging to the departing U.S. aircraft as they chose an immediate death over the one the Taliban had in store for them. Who in the world would trust the United States — much less go out on a limb for us — after that disaster? In the blink of an eye, Biden destroyed America’s ability to partner with foreign nations or human assets on the ground, either openly or clandestinely.
Biden has also squandered the trust of America’s law enforcement. He has spent years painting the entire profession with the brush of a handful of high-profile worst-cases. He has essentially called all police officers poorly trained, bigoted, and brutal. Biden has shown himself to be an enemy of law enforcement — but then he wants Congress to pass legislation giving him authority over all of America’s police departments? Why the hell would they? The current shortage of police recruits would swell into a complete collapse of law enforcement, and law and order would fall along with it.
The tragedy of Biden’s destructive leadership is that he has greatly hampered the United States’ ability to partner and collaborate with countless governments and organizations, both foreign and domestic. Our possibilities for prosperity and security have been tragically diminished by his crude authoritarianism.
So no, Joe, “Big Oil” doesn’t trust you, not for one hot second. No sane producer would invest one dollar so long as you and your people stand in a position to flush their investment down the toilet. No one trusts you, and you’ve given them every reason not to.
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