Some figures on Fox downplayed the return to $4 gas prices on July 20, dismissing the increase and suggesting it is minor or temporary — the same tactics the network used when gas prices first hit the $4 mark nearly four months ago.

• On Fox & Friends First, Fox Business’ Cheryl Casone claimed that the “economy is good, we have gotten really good news on inflation, which is good because I believe 95% of Americans say affordability is a problem right now. So this is good. Now, gas prices are going up. … Here’s the national average for today, $4 compared to $3.87 last week, so gas [is] going in the wrong direction right now.”

  “Overall, the economy is in good shape,” Casone concluded.

• America Reports anchor Sandra Smith downplayed rising gas prices, saying, “We should note that many of you as analysts have pointed out that, historically speaking, if we had seen a situation like we are right now, there would be a much bigger shock in the markets. Still, with the escalating tensions in this moment, we’re just back to $4 and just above $80 a barrel."

• On The Faulkner Focus, correspondent Ed Lawrence claimed: “This is not a huge spike in oil prices. It is a move up because of the moves that this administration has made to increase global supply.”

• The next day, Fox Business contributor Phil Flynn returned to a common Fox prediction that “once the conflict calms down a bit we'll see the prices come down dramatically,” telling host Harris Faulkner on July 21: “We got back above $4 a gallon, and of course that's a psychological number for a lot of people at home. But I really think this time Americans are looking at the bigger picture here.”

  “We are looking at a structural change in the global energy markets — it’s one we're going to win,” he continued. “And even as prices are spiking today on threats of the two major oil choke points in the world, we are not up as much as people would have feared.”

Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream video database for all original programming on Fox News Channel for any of the terms “gas,” “gasoline,” “fuel,” “pump,” “diesel,” “tank,” or “gallon” within close proximity to any of the terms “cost,” “price,” “spike,” “rose,” “dollar,” “four,” “4,” or “up” or any variation of the terms “soar,” “increase,” “surge,” “rise,” or “raise” from July 20, 2026, when national average gas prices returned to $4 per gallon, through July 23, 2026.

We timed segments, which we defined as instances when recent rising gas prices were the stated topic of discussion or when we found significant discussion of gas prices. We defined significant discussion as instances when two or more speakers in a multitopic segment discussed the gas prices with one another.

We also timed mentions, which we defined as instances when a speaker mentioned the gas prices without another speaker in the segment engaging with the comment, and teasers, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host promoted a segment about gas prices scheduled to air later in the broadcast.

We rounded all reported times to the nearest minute.