DeSantis Says GOP Must Acknowledge Iran’s Impact on Gas Prices

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Republicans should acknowledge that the Iran conflict has raised gasoline prices and is hurting working-class voters, rather than blame former President Joe Biden or dismiss the financial strain. His remarks, in an interview with Stephen A. Smith published around Election Day, criticized his party’s approach to an issue he said could affect its prospects in future elections. DeSantis argued that the conflict has alienated some voters who opposed further U.S. involvement in Middle East wars. He described it as open-ended and said its effect was being felt at gas stations. If Republicans could not admit that fuel costs had risen because of the conflict, he said, voters would be less likely to trust them on other issues. The national average for regular gasoline was about $4.15 a gallon on November 3, according to figures cited in the coverage. A separate figure put the average at about $4.23 on October 29. Those snapshots describe different dates; they do not, by themselves, establish the cause of the price movement. DeSantis attributed higher prices to the Iran conflict, while the figures alone do not verify that explanation. DeSantis also...