Conservatives Rip Democrat Brad Sherman for ‘Begging’ Saudi Arabia to Produce More Oil

Israel - Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., questions witnesses before a House Committee on Fore
Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP
Joshua Klein

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), who boasted of his push to ban domestic oil and gas drilling in 2019, suffered a major backlash online after he called upon the government of Saudi Arabia to supply “more oil” or be held accountable for the deaths of Ukrainians.

In a Saturday tweet addressing the state of Saudi Arabia, Sherman proclaimed that “now is your chance to be an ally or an enemy of those standing against Russia’s attack on #Ukraine.” 

Demanding it provide more oil to prevent Western reliance on Russia, the California Democrat claimed Ukrainian lives would ultimately be the kingdom’s responsibility. 

“Saudi Arabia must open taps and produce more oil so the world can turn its back on Russian oil,” he added. “Otherwise, the blood of Ukrainians is also on Saudi Arabia’s hands.”

In 2019, Sherman called to “protect the arctic” and proudly voiced his vote “to ban oil & gas drilling off the Pacific, Atlantic, & Florida Gulf coasts” as well as in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 

In response to Sherman’s recent remarks, many conservatives slammed the 67-year-old Democrat while calling to unleash domestic energy capabilities.

“Wrong @BradSherman,” wrote Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL). “Unleashing AMERICAN energy (cleaner & creates jobs) is the answer, not begging OPEC to pump more!”

“Hey Brad, remember this – wherein you and your Dem colleagues unilaterally disarmed by shutting down ANWR & Offshore Drilling?” asked Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) referencing his 2019 post.

“You’d rather have Saudi Arabia produce more oil than develop AMERICAN energy?” asked Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (R-FL).

“You should call on @POTUS to produce more HERE,” he added.

“When will you admit that your policies are bad for America and dangerous for the world?” he asked in another tweet.

“Nothing says strength like begging others to do what you could do yourself,” wrote Republican candidate for U.S. Congress Amanda Makki.

“Remember when the US was a net exporter two years ago,” she added.

“Does that apply to Joe Biden who cancelled Keystone XL pipeline that would have more than replaced all US oil imports from Russia?” asked conservative columnist Marc Thiessen.

“[T]otal, demented, anti-American insanity from a sitting Democrat congressman,” wrote Fox News Channel’s Steve Hilton.

“[B]egs SAUDI ARABIA to ‘open the taps and produce more oil’ while Biden continues to block AMERICAN production/export,” he added.

“The Biden admin war on American energy is so bad that we have Democrat Congressmen twitter-begging Saudi Arabia to produce more oil,” wrote GOP strategist Matt Whitlock.

“Check out excellent comments from Saudis calling out this obscene clown blaming Riyadh for Obama-Biden faction policy to strengthen Putin, impoverish Americans and usher in [the] green new deal,” wrote author Lee Smith.

On Saturday, Sherman stated that the personal sanctions the Biden administration has levied against Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials are a PR move that won’t make a difference in Russia’s actions, are “actually rather modest” compared to the 2014 sanctions against Iran, “not near the kind of sanctions that would really hit” Russia’s economy, and that we haven’t kicked Russia out of the SWIFT international banking system “because both the United States, but particularly Europe, want to keep buying Russian oil and natural gas, and want to keep paying for it.”

He also noted that kicking Russia out of SWIFT would mean “oil prices are going up.” 

“We’d have to make it plain to the Saudis that they’d have to turn the spigot on during this time of international crisis, and we have to discuss this with the American and European population,” he said. 

“It’s easy to talk about how we’re going to sanction them,” he added. “It’s a little bit more difficult to say, what costs are we, as a society, willing to bear in order to help the Ukrainian people? This is — we can’t do much for free.”

The comments come as concerns grow over rising gas prices due to the economic fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on Thursday. 

Last week, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) claimed President Biden’s “weakness” and “inadequate response” to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “emboldened” adversaries while destabilizing Europe and undermining U.S. national security. 

He also warned of “disastrous consequences for years to come” as he slammed the president’s “radical war on American energy” and its toll on citizens’ pockets, while calling to “unleash” domestic energy production.

On Friday, following President Biden’s speech on the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) blasted the current administration’s “failed” use of sanctions and “hashtag diplomacy” while calling to impose crippling sanctions on its energy sector and “unleash” America’s energy potential.

More devastating to President Putin than sanctions is “to end this administration’s war on American energy and unleash the true power of American energy,” the congressman claimed.

“Activating the strategic petroleum reserves is not going to do anything,” he said. “We’ve got to have a broader approach, starting with reactivating Keystone, and really turbocharging American energy production.”

“Over the long term, that would undermine Putin’s position,” he added.

Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein

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