On Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that once the Strait of Hormuz is open, consumers will see “immediate relief” in gas prices.
Partial transcript as follows:
HOST MARTHA RADDATZ: We just heard our experts say gas prices could break record highs and even if the Strait opened today, it would take months to recover and for those gas prices to go down. What is your reaction?
DUFFY: Well, a couple of things. I’ll tell you that every time I go into the Oval Office, I hear the president talk about energy prices. That’s been going on since he took this — a second term in Washington. He’s been concerned about American energy dominance, making sure Americans produce more, we drive energy prices down. But he’s also confronted with the idea that, could there be a nuclear Iran? And he understands the threat of that reality. Iran’s been the most destabilizing force in the world for 40 years. He sees that as untenable, and I would agree with him, we can’t have a nuclear Iran. And so he’s taking action, bold action. And, again, he’s going to make sure that the world and America is safer as we look forward, not just in the several months after this conflict, but in the several years and decades after he’s out of the presidency.
RADDATZ: So, that clearly seems the most important thing to President Trump. But meanwhile, back to those gas prices, do you agree it could take months, even if the strait opened today, and that those gas prices might break record highs?
DUFFY: Well, listen, so I’m at DOT. I’m not in the energy sector. But from all the briefings that I’ve had, once the Strait opens, you’ll see prices come down, come down immediately. And again, there’s going to be a tail to that. It’s going to take time to get back to where we were before this conflict began, but you’re going to see, I think, immediate relief once the Strait opens.
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