GOP blows smoke blaming Biden for higher gas prices Here we go again: Gasoline prices have spiked, and politicians are spinning attack lines and pointing fingers of blame. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) tweeted in June: "Average gas price: June 2020: $2.21 June 2021: $3.07 President Biden's economy!" "As millions of Americans travel this holiday weekend, they are feeling the cost of Biden's policies at the pump," Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel tweeted this month. "Gas prices are at their highest level in 7 years." The Fact Checker has been looking into similar attack lines for years — and they never quite add up. So far in 2021, gasoline prices have risen 88 cents, or a 40 percent increase, to $3.13 a gallon on July 6. But what has Biden got to do with it? The biggest factor in the price of gasoline is crude oil. Well over 50 percent of the price at the pump is directly tied to the cost of crude oil. About 18 percent of the cost relates to state and federal taxes — the latter of which have not increased under Biden. About 15 percent stems from distribution and marketing, while 13 percent comes from refining costs and profits. (These figures are from AAA.) The world is emerging from a pandemic that sent oil prices tumbling. Now the price of crude oil is going up. Simple as that. The Republicans who made these claims earned Four Pinocchios. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here. Did you hear something fact-checkable? Send it here; we'll check it out. Ron Johnson's one-man campaign of vaccine misinformation Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has emerged as the leading vaccine skeptic in Congress this year. For months, the senator has been peddling misinformation about coronavirus vaccines, undeterred by fact checkers, federal health agencies, medical experts and a growing body of scientific research. "The fact of the matter is it looks like natural immunity is as strong if not stronger than vaccinated immunity. ... There is a risk to the vaccine. Again, it's very small, but there are some pretty serious side effects, including death. We are already over 5,200 deaths reported on the VAERS system. That's a CDC, FDA's early warning system," Johnson said on Fox News's "Hannity" this week. Doctors, public health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are clear: Get the coronavirus vaccine even if you had covid-19. We surveyed a range of research studies and found that vaccines consistently build coronavirus immunity while exposure to the virus can be hit-or-miss in terms of building lasting protection. Johnson also cited reports from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a database co-managed by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration, and he said death was a rare but possible effect of a coronavirus vaccination. No study or case has established this. The VAERS database does not say coronavirus shots caused the reported deaths. Anyone can submit a report to VAERS; they are not verified. U.S. officials and experts make a point of saying that VAERS data should not be used to draw inferences such as Johnson's and that federal agencies have other systems to monitor developing health risks tied to vaccines. Johnson earned Four Pinocchios. We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP, @rizzoTK, @AdriUsero) or Facebook. Read about our process and rating scale here, and sign up for the newsletter here. Scroll down for this week's Pinocchio roundup. | 
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