This post is part of a series chronicling news coverage of rising prices in the United States. See more here.
Self-described Trump-supporting small business owner tells Fox 29 Philadelphia that he is frustrated over gas prices: “We didn't vote for that, and we want change”
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From the May 11, 2026, video uploaded to the website of Fox 29 Philadelphia
JASON MARTINEZ (FOX 29 ANCHOR): Prices increasing nearly forty cents in the last month alone, and so now President Trump says he wants to pause the federal gas tax to provide Americans some relief at the pump, and he'll need some help from Congress to do so.
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Well, there it is in our area, you got PA $4.67 a gallon, Jersey at $4.52, which is the national average too, and Delaware at $4.34 a gallon. Our JoAnn Pileggi live in Northern Liberties here. And JoAnn, while the PA average is about $4.67, some spots in Philly are already seeing five dollars a gallon.
JOANN PILEGGI (FOX 29 REPORTER): That they were, Jason, over five bucks a gallon in Philly. We were in Northern Liberties earlier. Now we're over here in Cherry Hill, and that is true. We have all felt the impact of these significantly higher prices at the pump. They've jumped about a buck fifty since February. Well, now the president says he has a plan in the interim. Folks are doing what they can, trying to do what they can to find the most economical way to fill the tank.
Gulp, true sticker shock at the gas pump in Philly. A gallon, now over five bucks at this Lukoil on Delaware Ave. It's about fifty cents more than the national average.
PERSON 1: Yeah. Last week, I feel like I was looking at signs that was more like $4.69, and it's just like amping up every time I come by, like, a different gas station.
PILEGGI: With her hybrid work schedule, Anna Negron is doing less driving, and she's cutting back elsewhere.
PERSON 1: Anything less would be ideal. The more we're paying now right now is outrageous.
PILEGGI: Gas prices are higher than they've been in several years. The blame squarely on the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the months-long war in Iran. Now President Trump is proposing a temporary suspension of the federal taxes we pay on gasoline, about eighteen and a half cents per gallon.
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PILEGGI: If that happens, and it would seemingly require congressional approval, it would shave a few bucks off the price to fill up.
Darnell Wright is a small business owner, and he says customers are simply cutting back now.
DARNELL WRIGHT: I'm a Republican. I'm American, America's first. I did vote for Trump. I believe that some of his policies do work, but the gas prices, staying in a war with Iran, we didn't vote for that, and we want change.
PILEGGI: Folks are doing what they can to save, like taking the bridge to Jersey and buying at places like Costco.