A video of Brian Deese, a political adviser serving under President Joe Biden, speaking about the "liberal world order" in the context of gas prices has racked up 1.4 million views on Twitter.
While in Madrid for the NATO summit on Thursday, Biden was asked by a reporter: "How long is it fair to expect American drivers and drivers around the world to pay that premium for this war?" in reference to Russia's war in Ukraine, which Biden has blamed in part for rising U.S. gas prices.
Biden said: "As long as it takes" and stressed that Russia could not be permitted to win the war.
Deese, who is the director of the National Economic Council, was being interviewed Thursday by CNN's Victor Blackwell, who referenced Biden's comments when asking what he would say to American families who can't afford to pay gas prices such as $4.85 a gallon for the months or years it takes the Russia-Ukraine war to end.
CNN: "What do you say to those families that say, 'listen, we can't afford to pay $4.85 a gallon for months, if not years?’"
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 1, 2022
BIDEN ADVISOR BRIAN DEESE: "This is about the future of the Liberal World Order and we have to stand firm." pic.twitter.com/LWilWSo72S
"Well, what you heard from the president today was a clear articulation of the stakes," Deese said. "This is about the future of the liberal world order and we have to stand firm. But at the same time, what I would say to that family and Americans across the country is you have a president and an administration that is going to do everything in its power to blunt those price increases and bring those prices down."
The Biden administration has been facing heavy pressure to combat U.S. inflation, which hit a 40-year high in May and has elevated costs for products like gas, food and clothing. Though Biden has partly attributed rising costs to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, a Newsweek fact check determined that while the conflict has impacted inflation, it was not the trigger.
According to World101, an online course from the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, the "liberal world order" refers to a "series of international organizations and agreements to promote global cooperation on issues including security, trade, health, and monetary policy." It was created by world leaders in the wake of World War II in an effort to prevent the world from devolving into such violence again, and the U.S. has "championed" the system since, according to the explainer.
Still, Deese's comments have received backlash from conservatives on social media, and "Liberal World Order" was trending on Twitter on Friday morning.
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor of Georgia, for example, tweeted: "Inflation is causing money to be tight for many people, especially senior citizens barely able to buy food. Sustained high gas prices are causing people to drives [sic] less because they can't afford it. We will not be paying for Biden's liberal world order. People are angry."
J.R. Majewski, an Ohio House candidate who once painted his yard into a banner for former President Donald Trump, accused Deese's calls to protect the future of the liberal world order of being part of a "globalist coup."
"When White House advisors go on TV & say that we're just going to have to keep paying high gas prices to keep the 'liberal world order' intact, that's when every American needs to wake up and start paying attention," he tweeted.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
