Regular gasoline now costs about $4.25 a gallon, up nearly 40% from $3.05 a year ago, and the people filling up in oil country are reportedly fine with it. At Trump rallies in Lubbock and Corpus Christi, supporters told Fox News Digital the pain at the pump is a price worth paying to stop socialism, communism, and whatever else is currently stalking the Texas panhandle.
The Numbers Nobody at the Rally Wanted to Argue With
Start with the facts, because the facts are the one thing in this story that isn't up for interpretation. According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of regular stood at roughly $4.25 on Wednesday. A year earlier it was about $3.05. That is a jump of nearly 40% in twelve months.
This is not a rounding error. This is a family with two cars and a long commute watching a few hundred extra dollars leave their account every month for the privilege of getting to work. And these are Texans, people who live in a state so tied to oil and gas that the pumpjacks practically have voting rights.
The midterms are days away. Fox News Digital went to two of the state's rallies to ask Trump's most loyal supporters whether any of this was shaking their faith. You can probably guess how that went.
'I'm In for the Long Haul' (Please Note the Price of Hauling)
One supporter in Lubbock offered the quote that more or less defines the whole genre. "I do experience that costs are high, but I'm in for the long haul and I support everything that he's been doing."
Everything. Not most things. Not the tax stuff but maybe not the tariff stuff. Everything. That is not a political position, that is a subscription service with no cancellation option.
Stephen Elsher of Corpus Christi said the economy is his top concern, then immediately explained that the fix is more of the people presiding over it. "Without the Republicans in charge, we won't go that direction," he said. Read that again. The economy is bad, so the answer is to keep the party that's in charge of the economy in charge of the economy. It's like blaming the house fire on the smoke detector and hiring the arsonist to install a new one.
Trump's Pitch: We're Rich, You're Broke, Hang On
To his credit, Trump did not pretend prices were low. He acknowledged the costs in Lubbock, and then delivered one of the more remarkable sentences of his campaign season. "Our country is making a fortune while people have to pay more at the pump," he said.
Sit with that for a second. The country is making a fortune. The people are paying more. Those two facts are presented side by side as if they were not, in fact, the central complaint. If you are wondering where the fortune is going, the speech did not say.
He also promised the numbers will "start coming down very, very rapidly" and that prices are "going to come down really fast." No timeline, no mechanism, just the confidence of a man who has never once had to guess what a gallon costs.
The Venezuelan Oil Shipment and the Fine Print Nobody Quoted
The administration's big answer is Venezuela. In Corpus Christi, Trump announced the arrival of the first million barrels of Venezuelan oil under a new agreement. The White House says it comes at no cost to American taxpayers and will be refined in Texas.
The White House also says the broader deal would give the U.S. majority control over roughly 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan reserves. That is a staggering figure, and it is the White House's figure, offered in support of its own deal. Nothing in the reporting tests how much, how fast, or when any of that oil turns into a lower number on a gas station sign.
Here's the thing. A million barrels sounds enormous until you remember the U.S. burns through crude by the tens of millions of barrels every few days. This is a promising press release, not yet a price cut. Voters are being asked to accept the arrival of a shipment as proof that relief is coming, which is a bit like celebrating the first drop of water as the end of the flood.
Socialism Is Coming, and Also It's Always Coming
When the economic argument gets thin, the rally pivots to a bigger fear. Trump warned voters about a "radical left Democrat communist" agenda and said Democratic policies would raise taxes, threaten Texas oil and gas jobs, and weaken border security. "The choice in this election is very simple," he said.
Supporters took it from there. "We can't lose our republic," said Susie of Corpus Christi, who warned the country is under siege by Democrats, socialists, and communists. Elizabeth Trigo, who brought her daughters to the Lubbock rally, framed it around opportunity and the future, and said she wants Trump to keep fighting the war on drugs and pushing back against socialism for his remaining two years.
There is a real conversation to be had about the Democratic Party's internal fight over democratic socialist candidates. But notice what the pitch accomplishes. A 40% jump in gas prices becomes a footnote to an apocalyptic struggle for the republic itself. Nobody can afford groceries, but at least the communists haven't won yet.
The Dingo Take
Forty percent. That is how much more a gallon of gas costs than it did a year ago, and the most common response at a Trump rally was a shrug and a promise to stay loyal. Not anger. Not even much disappointment. Just a sturdy refusal to connect the thing in their wallet to the man on the stage.
We should be honest about what this story is. It's a Fox News Digital feature built around people who showed up at a Trump rally and said nice things about Trump. That is a self-selected sample, and it proves exactly one thing: the faithful are faithful. It tells us nothing about the independents and the exhausted Republicans who stayed home and will decide those close races. The same outlet is running headlines about a deadlocked race in a state Trump won by double digits. Pay attention to that one.
But the pattern is the point. When the price is the problem, the answer is a bigger enemy. Gas too high? Socialism. Costs up? The communists. And the cure for all of it is a Venezuelan oil shipment that is a rounding error against American demand, delivered with a promise that prices will fall "very, very rapidly" on a schedule nobody will name. If that doesn't happen by Election Day, the line will be that the enemy is simply stronger than we thought. The pumps keep running either way. Your money just keeps leaving.
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