Copyright AFP 2017-2021. All rights reserved. Lindsay Battle says she knows âthe truthâ about why US gas prices in her area rose 90 cents a gallon in just over two months. âItâs because President Biden shut down the pipeline and because of all of his other policies... that make us reliant once again in the Middle East for oil,â she said. This is inaccurate, but Battleâs claims â in emailed comments to AFP â reflect the age-old political cudgel of pocketbook issues used to attack opponents, and which have become a popular misinformation front on social media. Battleâs was one of more than 250 emails which AFP received since February in response to fact checks that debunked misleading claims about the escalating retail cost of gasoline.