Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan asked supporters to cough up a few bucks for gas money — after publicly backing President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, which has spiked global fuel prices, according to a new report.
The GOP lawmaker’s request came in a May 11 fundraising email, which included the subject line: “Alaska needs you!!”
“To continue ushering in America’s Golden Age and delivering results for Alaska, I’m personally reaching out to you to ask for a grassroots donation of $3, $5, or $10,” wrote Sullivan, who was first elected to the Senate in 2014, according to Raw Story.
The email went on to outline how the contributions would be used.
“Your donation will instantly go to the funds to: Recruit volunteers; Run digital ads; Invest in integral mailpieces to keep Alaska voters up to date; Pay for gas as we visit isolated rural areas of Alaska,” it said.
As a result of Trump’s Iran war, the Strait of Hormuz — a vital artery of global trade — has been subject to dueling Iranian and U.S. blockades, leading fuel prices to skyrocket. On Thursday, oil hovered at around $100 a barrel, and the national average cost for a gallon of gasoline stood at $4.56, up from $2.98 two days before the war, according to AAA.
Drivers in Alaska are among the hardest hit, with gas averaging $5.27 per gallon — up from $3.63 a year earlier.
Sullivan’s appeal for help with travel costs comes after he expressed steadfast support of the Iran war, which began on February 28 and is currently paused under a fragile ceasefire.
“I’m not someone that, in general, would support kind of taking out world leaders,” Sullivan told reporters hours after the U.S. and Israel launched the war, according to Alaska Public Media. “But I think these guys…my belief is that they’re less world leaders than terrorists, right?”
“On terms of the regime change, I think it’s something that we can shape, but that’s going to be ultimately up to the Iranian people,” he added.
A former Marine who served in Afghanistan, Sullivan also voted against war powers resolutions that sought to rein in the president’s authority in the Middle East.
Part of the solution to high gas prices, Sullivan has said, is for the U.S. to produce more of its own energy. In an April interview with Newsmax, he blamed Democrats for attempting to hamper domestic oil and gas development.
Meanwhile, Democrats — hoping to unseat Sullivan in this year’s midterms — have seized on his stance on the Iran war.
In March, a group linked to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released an ad, in which the narrator states: “Costs are higher than ever. But Dan Sullivan keeps voting yes with his party leaders, no matter how much it hurts Alaska.”
Multiple recent polls indicate the Iran war remains deeply unpopular. In a Siena College survey released this week, 64 percent of respondents said going to war in the Middle East was the wrong decision.
The Independent has reached out to Sullivan’s office for comment.
