JD Vance Gets Blunt Reality Check From CBS Town Hall Host After Trying To Blame Biden For High Gas Prices

Vice President JD Vance was given a pointed reminder during a Michigan town hall event moderated by CBS News' Tony Dokoupil when he blamed former President Joe Biden while offering an explanation for high gas prices.

Americans continue to struggle with a nationwide affordability crisis hurting their wallets as well as at the pump. Because of the war President Donald Trump began with Iran earlier this year—and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz—the global oil supply has been limited, causing a surge in prices.

But Vance suggested Biden was to blame—even though Biden has been out of office for nearly two years:

"The big reason gas prices are so high is because when Joe Biden was president, we had about 20 percent of American refining capacity that went offline. We are slowly bringing that online but that does take a bit of time and because we shut down more refining capacity, we were more susceptible to the shock that we've seen in the Middle Eastern energy crisis."

"There is a lot that we are doing but it's also that we are working against an Iranian regime that is shooting at commercial shipping."

At this point, Dokoupil cut in to point out the town hall participant was "asking about gas prices just since you two"—referring to Vance and Trump—"took office."

He added:

"It's almost been two years. At a certain point, it becomes your economy, not Joe Biden’s economy. Also, back in March, here in Michigan, you said it was just a 'temporary blip' in gas prices. How long is temporary?"

Vance replied that "when this conflict is over, we are going to see gas prices come down"—but never provided a date.

You can hear what Vance said in the supercut below.

When Dokoupil asked Vance to explain why the U.S. has not won its war against Iran "decisively," Vance said Trump launched the war "because he believes it is very important ... to say that Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, cannot have a nuclear weapon."

However, Dokoupil noted that Vance's opinions on the country's economic outlook differ from the things Trump says "out on the trail."

In response, Vance defended Trump by claiming Trump is merely optimistic about "massive new investments coming into our country." He said he and Trump "are turning the ship around," deflecting from Dokoupil's observation that Trump refers to the nation's economy as an "A+" one despite widespread discontent.

People were not impressed.

Vance's appearance at the town hall event comes mere weeks after Trump faced criticism for claiming to members of the press that "almost every price has come way down" following Biden's presidency.

Trump said without citing any evidence that "with the exception of oil, which is lower than the Biden administration and we no longer have to worry about nuclear weapons with Iran because they're wiped out." He insisted that "401Ks are at their all-time high, the stock markets are at their all-time high, and our country is doing really well."

These claims word debunked by CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale, who said "overall grocery prices are up 3.4% since Jan. 2025, and way more grocery items are up than down" in a post on X. Dale even provided a chart showing the price of everything from cereals to dairy and meat, poultry, and fish—to say nothing of other goods—has skyrocketed in price.