Mysterious Stickers Keep Showing Up At Costco Gas Stations And Employees Hate It
Joe Biden's presidency isn't even a year old, but anonymous Republican foot soldiers with an eye to the 2024 election are already on the attack. Their weapons are stickers, placed like land mines for the mind on gas pumps across America. The stickers include an image of a shirtless, uncombed Hunter Biden with a cigarette dangling from his lips and the words, "Gas prices higher than Hunter Biden."
Hunter Biden, the president's son, went public with his addiction struggles in a memoir, "Beautiful Things," published in April (via Associated Press). Supporters of the Republican Party, including allies in the conservative news media, have used Biden's struggles with drug and alcohol addiction against the president, according to Yahoo! News. The gas pump stickers are just another phase of the assault on the president's reputation. The stickers convey two right-wing messages: one, that the president is "a weak liberal who has no control of the people around him," as Tucker Carlson said on Fox News, and two, that the president is to blame for soaring gas prices.
At least one Costco employee took to Reddit to vent their frustration over people sticking those "higher than Hunter Biden" stickers on the warehouse chain's gas pumps. Redditor "Thatdudedoesnotabide" posted a photo of the Hunter Biden sticker on a Costco gas station pump with the caption, "Hi yes employee here, we really do not, I mean DO NOT care about your political preference, find something better do please." Later, in the comments, the poster added, "It's pathetic honestly, especially when it's taking up our time removing these before opening."
Presidents shouldn't get credit or blame for Costco's gas prices
Biden bashers can also go on Etsy and purchase a similar sticker that shows Joe Biden pointing, with the text, "I did that!" The stickers are intended to be placed on a gas pump so that Biden is pointing at the price lit up on those little digital screens. But of course, the president of the United States can't be blamed for high gas prices, just as he (or someday maybe, she) can't take the credit when they are low. Gasoline prices nearly doubled from April 2020, when Donald Trump was still president, to October 2021, per CNN. There was no presidential decree on gas prices in either case. Rather, the simple economic law of supply and demand was in play. Demand was low when everyone was staying at home in the early days of the pandemic, and demand has rebounded since then, while supply hasn't caught up yet.
Oil companies have been slow to pick up the pace on drilling new wells in the U.S., as they have been more inclined to save money and tap out existing wells during what has been a very lean year for them, according to Reuters. The pace of drilling should pick up in 2022, and Biden was recently quoted in a separate Reuters article saying he expects prices at the pump to fall next year.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).