Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said the Trump administration’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz have had a grave impact on energy markets.

“The administration has a big problem right now because they have created an energy apocalypse in the Strait of Hormuz, which is impacting everything,” Markey said, referencing rising fuel costs across the globe.

Markey made the comment during a Q&A at Politico’s Health Care Summit on Tuesday, amid the U.S.’s naval blockade in the strait.

Around a fifth of the world’s oil consumption flows through the critical waterway on a daily basis under normal conditions. Its effective closure during the Iran war has driven up energy costs.

International benchmark Brent crude oil was trading at just under $100 per barrel on Tuesday afternoon, and U.S.-produced West Texas Intermediate was trading around $90 per barrel.

The senator, who serves on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said the issue of rising energy rates is “co-joined” with a pre-existing “climate apocalypse.”

“Trump is fundamentally trying to get people to forget about this threat, but he has ironically put it all into play because of his invasion of Iran,” Markey said about climate concerns. “And all of these energy and climate issues are all coming back together again in one big storyline that is going to be more and more threatening to Republicans this fall.”

The Trump administration is racing to appease concerns about rising gas costs ahead of the November midterms, where affordability is seen as a central issue for voters.

President Trump downplayed a recent hike in the U.S. inflation rate last month, which was driven up almost entirely by rising energy rates.

The president cast doubt on the inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, telling a Nevada audience last Thursday that the country was experiencing “some fake inflation because of the fuel.”

Trump urged the crowd to “see what happens over the next week or so.”

“You know, I think you’re going to be very impressed,” he said. “And if you are, vote for the Republicans in the midterms.”

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