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During a press conference on Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) claimed that the economy is improving, citing lower costs for gasoline compared to earlier this month.

“This is a country that’s actually experiencing a golden age again,” said Scalise, the second-highest ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. “I mean, gas prices are down 50 cents from where they were just a few weeks ago and continuing to go down.”

“Affordability is back again,” he added, claiming that Democrats are “upset about that” because they want to use the issue as “a talking point” ahead of the midterms.

Scalise: "This is country that's actually experiencing a golden age again. I mean, gas prices are down 50 cents from where they were just a few weeks ago and continuing to go down. Affordability is back again."— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-30T14:22:22.418Z

Scalise: "This is country that's actually experiencing a golden age again. I mean, gas prices are down 50 cents from where they were just a few weeks ago and continuing to go down. Affordability is back again."

Scalise’s claims don’t match reality. As of Monday, regular grade gasoline cost $3.831/gallon on average across the U.S. That is indeed close to $0.50........

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