Fox News financial analyst Stuart Varney delivered an unusually blunt assessment on Tuesday, saying a string of crises has undermined President Donald Trump's efforts to bring down fuel costs ahead of the midterm elections.

"The news on energy is not good," Varney said during his Fox Business segment (video).

"The price of diesel is an election issue"

"The price of diesel is an election issue," said Varney. "At six dollars and fifty cents a gallon, farmers and truckers are just not happy."

Skyrocketing fuel prices have pushed agriculture and transportation companies to the brink. Diesel is the workhorse fuel of the U.S. economy — it powers the freight trucks, tractors, and delivery fleets that keep food and goods moving — so sustained spikes tend to show up in shipping costs and, eventually, in the prices consumers pay for food and goods. As Fox reported last week, the situation has forced a wave of trucking companies into bankruptcy. Sentiment toward the president and his party has soured in farming states as a result, with polling showing Trump's approval under water even in deeply Republican states such as Texas and Nebraska.

"Trump is in a very tight spot," Varney said, describing a president scrambling to find a solution that will bring down fuel prices before the fast-approaching midterms. The midterms will decide control of Congress, and fuel prices have become a proxy for the broader affordability concerns now defining the campaign.

A fraught plan to buy Russian diesel

Trump's latest attempt, Varney explained, involves buying millions of gallons of diesel from Russia — a move that many have noted carries complicated and often contradictory geopolitical implications. It provides funding to Russia at a critical moment in its war against Ukraine, an American ally, and the U.S. recently passed a law that would raise sanctions against buyers of Russian fuel. What's more, Russia has been providing support to Iran over the course of its conflict with the United States.

Trump's plan, Varney noted, depended on an "energy ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine. But within hours of the ceasefire's announcement, Russia attacked energy facilities in Ukraine.

"The status of the ceasefire is not clear," Varney said. "No word on Russian diesel sales. The price is still north of six dollars a gallon, and President Trump, well, he's upset just about everyone."

To make matters worse, attacks on energy infrastructure and transport across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf have exacerbated the situation. Such strikes matter becauseeries, pipelines, and export terminals are the choke points of the fuel supply chain: without them, crude cannot be turned into deliverable diesel and gasoline. "The price of oil remains above $90 a barrel," Varney said.

A strained relationship with Fox

Fox has long been aligned with Trump, but the relationship has become strained in recent years. The network faced legal and financial repercussions for pushing his 2020 election denial claims, and it has become increasingly clear that the fuel-price turmoil has torpedoed the GOP's midterm chances. Fox has given less and less airtime to Trump and his rallies, while its hosts and guests have grown increasingly open about their criticism of the president.

"Acknowledge that their pain at the pump is real," one panelist said recently, addressing Trump's tendency to dismiss affordability concerns. "Their pain in the pantry is real. The chaos at the kitchen table is real."

And as one guest admitted last week: "Inflation is not going away. It's not transitory. I can't believe I just said that. Sorry, everybody."

"Perception is reality"

With his solutions to the problems failing, Varney said, "the President is exated. Three weeks to the election and the wars in Ukraine and Iran have not produced the results he expected. Voters are exasperated too."

Despite Trump's efforts, "everyone feels the sting of four-dollar gas and six-dollar diesel." And as the president flails for a fix, Varney concluded: "Perception is reality. Voters see the gas station signs. That is reality. The news on energy is just not good."

Source: Alternet