NEWSOM, FIX HORMUZ STICKER

Gas prices are blowing up again because the U.S.-Iran war that began in late February 2026 jolted crude markets and turned the Strait of Hormuz into the tiny map label wrecking normal people’s budgets. dallasfed.org As of Tuesday, April 28, 2026, AAA lists the U.S. average at $4.176 a gallon, but California is at $5.965, so the rage is loudest where commuters were already paying absurd prices. gasprices.aaa.com California gets hit extra hard because its fuel market is isolated, it uses a special cleaner gasoline blend, and Valero’s Benicia refinery is set to stop refining by the end of April 2026, leaving only seven gasoline-producing refineries in-state. energy.ca.gov Even after the April 8, 2026 ceasefire, analysts said pump prices were sticky on the way down and likely would not return to prewar levels this year, so nobody really believed the pain was over. axios.com That is why this blew up: gas prices are the most visible form of inflation in America, and the reaction has become a blame carnival—Iran, Trump, oil companies, and in California, Gavin Newsom—every time somebody watches the pump climb like a slot machine in reverse. aol.com