The White House’s tweet from last year’s Fourth of July hasn’t aged well.
Last Independence Day, the Biden administration boasted that the cost of a 2021 cookout meal was down from 2020 by a whopping 16 cents. This was a cringeworthy, dad-joke-filled attempt to distract from the fact that inflation was already starting to surge to the highest levels in more than a decade.
Planning a cookout this year? Ketchup on the news. According to the Farm Bureau, the cost of a 4th of July BBQ is down from last year. It’s a fact you must-hear(d). Hot dog, the Biden economic plan is working. And that’s something we can all relish. pic.twitter.com/7h9qLauIbC
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 1, 2021
Biden rightfully got roasted for this tone-deaf tweet at the time, with critics mocking the White House for touting a 16-cent decrease for one meal while food prices away from home were up 4.2%, energy was up 24.5%, used cars were 45%, and so on.
Now, a year later, the White House’s messaging looks even more absurd.
According to the Farm Bureau (the same source Biden used for last year’s tweet), a July Fourth meal this year will be 17% more expensive . That’s an increase of roughly $10 for the average family’s meal.
The White House's cringe July 4th tweet from last year has aged about as well as Joe Biden.
😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/kLWoCUrcLL
— Brad Polumbo 🇺🇸⚽️🏳️🌈 (@brad_polumbo) July 1, 2022
For some reason, the White House hasn’t put out any update touting this year’s costs. I wonder why?
Of course, I’ll happily admit that a 17% increase in the cost of one meal isn’t the end of the world. But it is symbolic of the way that, more broadly, increases in the essential costs of living have hurt families. Overall, it’s estimated that inflation will cost the average family $5,200 in 2022, a whopping $433 per month.
That’s a big deal — and the rising price of burgers and buns for Independence Day is just a small symbol of this concerning trend.
To be fair, it’s not all Biden’s fault. No president is entirely to blame for the state of the economy, and global factors such as the Russian war in Ukraine have definitely contributed to rising food and fuel costs — although they’re certainly not entirely to blame, and these costs were already sharply increasing before the invasion.
But last year, Biden wanted to take credit for a 16-cent (yes, seriously) decrease. So, it’s entirely fair to throw this year’s $10 hike back in the president’s face. And there’s no doubt that his big-government policies have made things worse.
The Trump administration started the COVID-era spending blowout, but after Biden took over, he passed another massive, disastrous “stimulus” bill that failed to stimulate the economy but sure did stimulate inflation. And the president would’ve spent billions more if he could’ve gotten the votes!
Likewise, Biden has failed to take commonsense steps to reduce prices, such as eliminating trade taxes, and he has only further encouraged the Federal Reserve’s reckless printing of trillions of new dollars (which makes the dollars in existence less valuable).
So, Biden does deserve a fair share of the blame for the rising prices that are hitting people’s wallets. Remember that as your Fourth of July meal becomes $10 more expensive this year.
This article originally appeared in the Washington Examiner.
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