Joe Biden is a self-declared “car guy”, fond of driving the 1967 Goodwood green Corvette Stingray he received as a wedding gift from his father, who ran Delaware’s biggest Chevrolet dealership.
But cars — and the fuel that makes them go — are now a problem for the president. Soaring petrol prices, already at seven-year highs, are feeding wider inflation and threatening to derail Biden’s presidency, say political analysts.
On Tuesday, the White House said it could scrap federal gasoline taxes in a bid to bring immediate relief to drivers. The average price for a gallon of gasoline across the US is now $3.50, a rise of almost 50 per cent since Biden entered the Oval Office.