Republicans Blast Food Inflation, Blame Biden #ThanksgivingTax
Republicans Blast Food Inflation, Blame Biden #ThanksgivingTax
(Bloomberg) -- Republicans are accusing President Joe Biden of compromising the most American of holidays, Thanksgiving.
It’s not quite the war on Christmas, but several Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have complained about rising food prices using the hashtag #ThanksgivingTax on Twitter and Facebook, tying Biden to the latest economic data. It’s not clear who coined the phrase, but it’s been used by Representatives Elise Stefanik from New York and Lisa McClain from Michigan and even the official House Republicans’ account, which has more than a million followers.
The social-media campaign highlights the renewed politicization of inflation, with Republicans pointing fingers at Democrats as supply-chain disruptions and labor shortages continue to drive up food prices. Meat is chief among the items hit with price increases as manufacturers are still struggling to find enough workers.
U.S. consumer prices rose last month at the fastst pace since 1990. Food prices jumped 5.3% in October from a year ago, the most in more than a decade, Labor Department data show.
Moderate Democrats like Senator Joe Manchin are also sounding the alarm on inflation -- even calling it a “tax” -- after today’s report. “From the grocery store to the gas pump, Americans know the inflation tax is real and DC can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day,” he tweeted.
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