There’s a weird genre of conservative trolls where someone posts a photo of a few groceries with a caption like, “This cost me $190.” Thank you, Biden. ”
Of course, that’s all bullshit. But lies aside, what do these people expect Donald Trump to do about it?
The genre may have been started by none other than New York Times conservative columnist David Brooks. He complained to X about spending $78 on a hamburger and fries at the airport last September.
“This meal cost only $78 at Newark Airport,” Brooks said. tweeted. “This is why Americans think the economy is terrible.”
The included photo showed a hamburger, crinkle-cut fries, lettuce, tomato, a packet of ketchup, and what appeared to be an amber drink poured over ice. After all, he quite exaggerated and seems to have purchased two A double shot of whiskey.
The genre has since become popular on the right as a way to argue that people should vote for Trump because the economy is straining their lives.
X users immediately Error exposed This claim involves pricing the same product at two different retailers.
Charge: $175
Actual: Walmart: $80
Whole Foods: $119
flat New York Times reporter Mike Isaac According to his local Whole Foods in the expensive San Francisco Bay Area, the prices were as follows: What’s the price? $120.
That being said, no one is claiming that food prices haven’t gone up. it has. But what will Mr. Trump do about it?
When asked about that specifically at an event in Michigan, President Trump said he would lower prices by limiting food imports. Economists are right pointed out Restricting competition actually increase This would not only result in lower prices, but also lead to retaliatory tariffs that would hurt American farmers, forcing them to raise prices again to make up for the losses.
We know that price gouging was the culprit. meaningful driver Of the high grocery bills, President Trump attacked Vice President Kamala Harris’ proposal to punish price gougers with “Soviet-style” controls. But like this Politico article, point outRepublicans at the state level have been pursuing price gouging in the food industry. But President Trump isn’t interested. Because we will never interfere with anyone’s interests, especially at the expense of a referendum.
Then there’s the impact President Trump’s policies could have on the economy as a whole.
The 16 economists who won the Nobel Prize are: claimed President Trump’s policies “will reignite this inflation with a fiscally irresponsible budget,” he said. another letterThis time, it is written by 23 Nobel Prize-winning economists, who state the following:[Trump’s] Policies that include high tariffs on products from our friends and allies and regressive tax cuts on businesses and individuals will lead to higher prices, wider deficits, and greater inequality. Among the most important determinants of economic success are the rule of law and economic and political certainty, all of which Trump threatens. ”
None of that bodes well for food prices.
Conservatives who post photos of groceries aren’t going to buy into academic arguments or look at graphs. lower inflation In other words envy of the world. They have policies to sell. They say they need Trump to win.
