Polygraph

The price of diesel one year ago was less than half of the current price.

Said by Blue Georgia, Checked Updated

Polygraph verdictFalse
Sources
4 contradict3 context
Said
1 time·
Confidence
88%
Real Time with Bill MaherOct 24, 2026
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70 claimsThe check →

The claim is false: diesel one year earlier was about 57% of the current price, not less than half. AAA and EIA-based sources put the national average near $3.62–$3.69 on Oct. 21–31, 2025, against about $6.31–$6.35 in late October 2026, a rise of roughly 73%, not a doubling.

A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.

A guest makes this claim. Listeners heard it, so it counts against the post, and on the guest's own record.

What was said

… Our number one supplier of that is India. Where does India buy its crude oil? Russia. So, because of Democratic climate policies in California, we are buying indirectly oil from Russia. One year ago, the price of diesel was less than half that it is right now. Donald Trump and Donald Trump alone has caused that increase, and anybody who supports him is responsible for it too. Except in California, you can't argue with the fact that the national average is in the $4 range, and here it's six. …
Real Time with Bill Maher · · from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Contradicts. AAA data reported the national diesel average at $6.31 on Oct. 21, 2026, up from $3.62 on Oct. 21, 2025, so the year-ago price was well above half the current price.[2]

Contradicts. The Oct. 31 national diesel average was $6.3101 versus $3.6876 a year earlier, a $2.62 increase that does not reach a doubling.[3]

Contradicts. EIA weekly data show diesel at $6.352 for the week ending Oct. 26, 2026, $2.63 above a year earlier, which implies a year-ago price of about $3.72, again more than half the current figure.[4][5]

Context. The EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook gives a 2025 annual average retail diesel price of $3.66 per gallon, consistent with a year-ago level well above half of the 2026 price.[1]

Context. The claim matches Gov. Beshear's October 24, 2026 remark on Real Time, which the extraction reproduces faithfully, so the post did not add a figure or scope beyond what was said.[6][7]

Sources

7 sources: 1 primary, 5 not rated, 1 rated low

  1. 1Short-Term Energy Outlook - U.S. Energy Information ...eia.gov · primary source · cited for: context
  2. 2Trump offers farmers diesel aid. Why are prices not budging?rmb.reuters.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
  3. 3U.S. Gasoline Averages $4.18 as Diesel Remains Above $6 Per Gallon | EconoTimeseconotimes.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
  4. 4Diesel climbs for third straight week, while regular falls againbluebookservices.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
  5. 5Diesel Prices in 2026: Weekly DOE Prices, Year-to-Date ...weeklydiesel.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
  6. 6Andy Beshear (@AndyBeshearKY) on Xx.com · not rated · cited for: context
  7. 7Beshear Blames Trump for Diesel Price Hike as Hilton Cites California Policy Failuresza.headtopics.com · rated low for factual reporting by Iffy.news · cited for: context

Where this claim was made

Said in 1 published post

Checked 2 times

Each check reads the sources again. The newest verdict is the one this page states.

  1. · latestFalse
  2. False

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