President Donald Trump said voters were unwilling to pay higher gas prices because of the Iran war, as Democrats swept the midterms on Tuesday.
“I don’t think it’s a war, I think it’s gas prices,” Trump said on the phone with Fox News as he described the results. “People agree with what I’m doing in Iran, but they really don’t want to do the short-term consequences of paying more for gas.”
“And you know, I know,” he continued. “I don’t agree with it, and I will say to people, you know: ‘It’s a short-term problem but for long-term gain.”
The president congratulated Democratic congressional leaders and said he would welcome the results. Democrats have won majorities in the House and Senate, meaning Trump must face an opposition-controlled Congress.
“I don’t like to consider defeat for me, I wasn’t on the ballot,” Trump said, adding that he felt “very bad for a very good Republican, a lot of good patriots lost tonight.”
Fuel costs have risen since February, when the US and Israel began launching airstrikes on Iran, after Iran began mining and attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Disruptions in the strait, through which 20 to 25% of the world’s ocean oil previously flowed, have limited global supplies and caused energy prices to rise around the world.
Regular gas prices in the U.S. are now an average of 36% higher, or about $1 higher per gallon, compared to a year ago, according to AAA’s Nov. 3 Fuel Price Tracker.
Some countries saw even higher jumps. In Michigan, where Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed leads Republican incumbent Senator Mike Rogers, gas prices have jumped 52% compared to last year.
Diesel prices, meanwhile, have risen an average of 70% in the US, hitting record highs this fall in all but three states.
The White House has said oil prices will drop significantly once the war in the Middle East ends.
Although hostilities have largely subsided since the beginning of the war and both sides have repeatedly attempted to establish a ceasefire, fighting continues on a limited scale.
Some media reported that the US has carried out an unusual campaign of several small-scale attacks on Qeshm, an island in the Strait of Hormuz, in recent weeks.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the attacks, including Monday’s attack.