House Democrat calls out Biden for sending American oil overseas, only to beg Saudi Arabia for more oil

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna paraded himself on Fox News Thursday to bash President Joe Biden for sending American oil overseas.

American oil exports have increased in recent months, Reuters reported, driven by Biden's decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

In fact, even some of the oil released from the SPR is being sent overseas. More than 5 million barrels were shipped to countries in Europe and Asia last month. Destinations included France, the Netherlands, India, and even China, according to Reuters.

What did Khanna say?

Speaking on “America Reports,” the California Democrat admitted he does “not understand” why the Biden administration has refused to stop oil exports as Americans face record-high prices at the gas pump.

According to Khan, U.S. energy producers are exporting 3.44 million barrels of oil per day.

“I don’t understand why we’re allowing the oil to be exported to countries like China when we need it here in the United States,” Khan said.

“I don’t get that why a country that has a shortage right now of oil is allowing 3.44 million barrels every day to be sold," the congressman added. "Before 2015 that was not allowed. And if you stopped that, you would have a dramatic decease in price."

Ro Khanna on America Reports on Fox News discussing how Congress can tackle rising gas priceswww.youtube.com

Later in the interview, Khanna also criticized Biden over his forthcoming trip to Saudi Arabia, during which Biden is expected to ask the Saudis to increase their oil production, which is reportedly already near maximum capacity.

"It's wrong," Khanna said. "The president ran saying he would make Saudi Arabia a pariah state, that he was not going to engage [Mohammed bin Salman]. They're still engaged in a brutal war in Yemen, and I don't think that he should go meet with MbS until MbS takes some accountability for the murder of [Jamal Khashoggi] and until they bring the war in Yemen to an end.

"Look at the irony: We're going to beg Saudi Arabia for oil while we're exporting our own oil around the world," Khanna added. "It makes no sense — and the Saudis are going to play us."

At the end of the interview, Khanna suggested, like many polls indicate, that Biden is not focusing on the issues that matter most to Americans.

"I do think we have to be doing more. People in my district, they’re talking to me about gas prices, about higher food prices, they’re talking to me about the airlines getting canceled," Khanna said. "Those are the issues front and center."