Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Tuesday that there was nothing wrong with hoping gas prices increase because it would hurt Barack Obama’s reelection chances.

“Sometimes you need to hit people upside the head with a baseball bat in order to get their attention,” he said on the Neal Boortz radio show, which he was guest-hosting, according to Think Progress.

Cain was responding to a question by a caller, who asked if it was wrong to hope “that gas would hit $4 so people would realize that we need a Republican in the presidency.”

“That’s not wrong at all,” he replied. “If it hits $4 a gallon nationally, that would be a huge wakeup call for a lot of people who, quite frankly, aren’t paying attention. And the other reason that I would agree with you that it was not wrong in order to wake people up in that manner because sometimes you don’t wake them up until it hits their checkbook.”

Cain, who dropped out of the presidential race after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, also said that oil rich countries manipulated gas prices to help Obama.

“There are some countries that are really really big as far as oil production that want Barack Obama to win. So you may still see some highs-to-lows between now and November.”