House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., on Thursday blamed President Joe Biden's cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline construction for exacerbating the massive supply disruptions on the East Coast after a cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline company.
In an interview on Newsmax TV's "John Bachman Now," Norman said the move was "not fair to the American people."
"This was avoidable," he said of the shortages triggered by the six-day shutdown of the pipeline. "Under [former] President [Donald] Trump we had the Keystone Pipeline, we were exporting … natural gas, and now we're having to buy gas from countries that don't like us."
According to Norman, America needs to be "energy sufficient" and "exporting [gas] like we did before."
"Now is the time to … open up the Keystone Pipeline," he urged. "Let's go back to what former President Trump has done with with energy because we need to be self sufficient with this, and not dependent on others. We need to make sure that the companies have the support and the guard rails to prevent something like this."
Norman said the nation's priority now should be to "get this country back up and running," and that means "gas that's affordable."
"We were at $2.30, $2.35 during President Trump," he argued. "Now we're gonna be approaching $4. It's not fair to the American people."
Norman also lamented GOP Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney's "personal vendetta" against Trump that ultimately led to her getting booted as House Republican Conference chair — a position he predicted would be filled by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.
"The problem Liz Cheney had was she ... was going on TV bashing Trump ... because of a personal vendetta," he said.
"Stefanik spoke to our Freedom Caucus [Wednesday night]. I think she did a good job. I think what she would do is have a message that that will recruit Republicans to run … plus it'll be a conservative message, and she will not have her personal views get in the way."
Republican have to "concentrate … with what the Democrats are doing," Norman asserted.
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Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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