Steve Mnuchin: Sanction Russian Energy

BUCK: What should be done about the situation in Ukraine from a U.S. perspective, from the West, from NATO allies, from the world perspective, actually? Well, we have former Treasury secretary for Trump, Steven Mnuchin, was on CNBC saying we actually should sanction Russian energy. Play clip 7, please.

MNUCHIN: I would immediately cease any payments in the energy markets. The fact that money is still going to Russia, though, that is something I would stop immediately, and I would sanction more people that are around Putin. One of the most important issues for national security is that the U.S. is energy independent. Not minimize the environmental issues, but now is the time to reconsider things like pipelines, things like LNG, which are a much cleaner form of energy.

BUCK: Clay, this is apparent now: The Biden administration is hostile toward fossil fuels in a whole variety of ways. But beyond that, they’re saying they will not… So, we get all these lectures about how democracy in Ukraine is a critical global interest and all this stuff, which, okay. Yes, we want the Ukrainians to defeat the Russians and have control of their country for sure. But we’re also under an administration that says all that and then says, well, “We’re not gonna sanction their energy ’cause it’s gonna be too pricey.”

CLAY: That’s exactly right, and ultimately this is a political calculation because right now we’ve got 7.5% inflation, Buck, and we know that the price of oil is going to go up, a gallon of gas over $5 a gallon. I believe now in the San Francisco area, the first community to go over $5 a gallon, if I’m not mistaken. And if this battle is going to continue and we’re going to stop buying for 600,000 barrels of oil, which is what Marco Rubio tweeted this morning we’re doing on a day-to-day basis, then there’s going to be a cost.

And that cost is going to be paid at the pump as the price of oil is now over $110, $114, may go to an all-time high, which would drive inflation even higher, and one of… Buck, you know this. One of the number-one indicators for how you’re going to do in a midterm or in any election, the price of gas may be the most important.