Fact check: Amid spike, prominent Republicans make false claims about gas prices

[Dulcinea]

(CNN) A person fills up their vehicle at a gas station in Brooklyn on April 21.
A person fills up their vehicle at a gas station in Brooklyn on April 21. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Republicans face political risk from the spike in gasoline prices caused by the war President Donald Trump launched against Iran. Over the last two days, prominent Republicans have made a series of false claims about gas prices.

Sen. Tim Scott, chair of Senate Republicans’ campaign committee, falsely claimed Thursday that “gas prices continue to come down” – even though average gas prices in the US as a whole and in his home state of South Carolina had actually gone up over the last day, week, month and year, according to AAA data.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth falsely suggested Wednesday that the average gas price in California was $8 per gallon right before the Iran war started in late February. The state average at the time was actually $4.64 per gallon, according to AAA.

And House Majority Leader Steve Scalise falsely claimed Thursday that gas prices are much lower now than they were “two years ago,” when, he claimed, they were “$6.” Thursday’s AAA national average, $4.30 per gallon, was actually higher, not lower, than the average two years prior, when it was $3.66 per gallon.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/30/politics/fact-check-republicans-gas-prices