Bucks County drivers are worried about gas prices, Trump, and Iran: ‘The average American won’t survive this’
In conversations at whirring gas pumps throughout the county earlier this week, motorists voiced fear, frustration, anger.
John Heim stared quizzically at the gas pump as the price display whirred too quickly for him to register.
“So fast,” he said quietly, as he pumped gas at $3.99 a gallon into his Honda Civic at a Sunoco station in Warminster. “So expensive.”
When he finished his $40 fuel-up, Heim, 42, an out-of-work carpenter, was struck by a thought: “Didn’t we take over Venezuela? Wouldn’t their oil make gas cheaper?”
But Heim, who did not disclose his party affiliation, was focused on the wrong part of the map, forgetting the impact of President Donald Trump’s decision to start a war with Iran and how the military choke point at the Strait of Hormuz is blocking ships carrying as much as 20% of the world’s oil, which has sent gas prices skyrocketing.
Those prices are vexing Heim and others in Bucks County, a key political battleground where voters narrowly went for President Donald Trump in 2024 — the first time a Republican won the county in the presidential race since the 1980s.
Several Bucks drivers were lamenting the war and blaming Trump for costing them at the pump.
If the situation does not improve before November, it could have an impact in a key congressional race in the purple county as Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick looks to defend the last GOP-held House seat in the Philly suburbs. Democrats plan to capitalize on the affordability issue in key races around the state.
Fitzpatrick’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
In conversations at whirring gas pumps throughout the county over the last week, motorists voiced fear and frustration.
“I am really P.O.-ed,” said Carolyn Barkley, 66, at a Sunoco station in Warrington where gas was $4.19 a gallon, a price that seemed to be close to the norm at numerous Bucks County stations. “Trump started a war without asking Congress, making gas prices jump up,” said Barkley, a retired postal worker and Democrat who drives a bright red Ram truck.
“It’s ridiculous. And now this is affecting food,” she said, referring to the farm fertilizer also blocked at the strait. “I don’t work. I can’t keep up with all this. And Trump said gas prices will plummet. Is he lying, or an idiot, or what?”
In a speech Wednesday, Trump — who ran in 2024 on alleviating Americans’ economic woes— said: “Gas will rapidly come back down.”
In Doylestown, several people were pulling in for gas at a strikingly designed Wawa station that features a clock tower and decorative panels of animals in pillars near the pumps.
As Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” blared through station speakers, Scott Nash looked troubled.
“Gas is really getting above my means,” said Nash, 31, a chemical operator and Democrat who logs a lot of miles on his Toyota SUV.
“Not three months ago, I had an extra $150 a month in my pocket that’s now gone to gas,” he said. “These are the consequences of war. We fight to help Israel, not us. This is the stuff I don’t get. Trump could be a better leader and not pursue war.”
That’s the wrong way to look at things, according to Joe Brennan, who was filling his thirsty Mercedes-Benz in a corner of the station. The president is doing well and we all could use a little patience, said Brennan, a Republican.
“It would have been easy for the president to kick the can down the road like previous presidents did, and not take on Iran and the terrorists there,” he said. “That’s like when the world allowed Hitler and Stalin to gather power, while doing nothing.
“But Trump is thwarting them.”
During his first presidency, Trump scuttled an international agreement brokered by former President Barack Obama that was intended to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief.
The country’s nuclear program was one of the reasons Trump and Israeli leaders cited for the decision to launch strikes on Iran in late February.
Trump has Brennan’s support, 100%.
“Higher gas prices have no effect,” he said. “It’s a short-term bump. This war will be over in a month.”
Pumping gas about 60 feet from Brennan, Rick McGarry, a Democrat, filled the tank of his Nissan Rogue with the same fuel, but offered a few differing views about Trump.
“Real bombs aren’t hitting like in Iran, but there are some bombshells we’re dealing with,” said McGarry, 61, the owner of the Bucks County Running Shop in Doylestown. “The consequences of Trump’s ill-conceived actions will hurt everybody.”
McGarry also criticized what he said was Trump’s inability to articulate a reason for the war. “Messages change every day. He’s hard to follow, hard to fathom.”
Worried for his employees, McGarry sees a volatile stock market and the possibility that the war could evaporate personal capital, making it difficult to pay salaries.
“It’s hard,” he said. “There’s just so much uncertainty.”
Back in Warminster, James Gladden, 50, stood beside his eight-passenger Infiniti QX 80, the kind of vehicle that can carry a small reservoir of gasoline. Gladden is a professional support person and driver.
“This gas is killing me,” he said, loud enough to startle another tank filler at a Wawa pump. “Lunch is going to be peanut butter and jelly from here on out.”
Gladden, a Democrat, said he hears people place the blame for the pricey gas on Iran for bottlenecking the Strait of Hormuz.
“But, no,” Gladden concluded, “it’s Trump. Does he want to kill us or what? I say that because I believe this: The average American won’t survive this.”