President Joe Biden was mocked by conservatives on Sunday for a video he released ahead of the Super Bowl which derided “shrinkflation,” when manufacturers lower the size or quantity of items included for a given price without informing the consumer as a result of inflation, with pundits uniformly reminding the embattled president that his inflationary policies preceded the shrinkflation.
In the video, posted to the official government account for Biden on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the president appears to be sitting in the White House movie theater while various shots reveal he is surrounded by packages of junk food. Looking into the camera, Biden remarked, “if you’re like me you like to be surrounded by a snack or two while watching the big game.”
The video was heavily edited, with frequent cuts and graphics of junk food items superimposed alongside the 81-year-old president.
“As an ice cream lover, what makes me the most angry is that ice cream cartons have actually shrunk in size but not in price,” Biden remarked. “I’ve had enough of what they call shrinkflation, it’s a rip off.”
Biden continued by declaring, “The American public is tired of being played for suckers.”
Conservative publisher and radio personality Clay Travis wrote on X, “Joe Biden, whose economic policies created the highest inflation in 40 years, blamed companies for shrinking the size of their products.”
Travis also noted, “This is the video he chose to make instead of doing a Super Bowl interview.”
Joe Biden, whose economic policies created the highest inflation in 40 years, blamed companies for shrinking the size of their products. This is the video he chose to make instead of doing a Super Bowl interview. pic.twitter.com/L1EAqXZUjd
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) February 11, 2024
Biden took a pass on attending the traditional Super Bowl Sunday interview just days before the release of the devastating report by Special Counsel Robert Hur, who said the government could not bring a case against the president for his alleged mishandling of classified documents because no jury would convict “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Investor Bill Ackman, who was instrumental in exposing the plagiarism accusations that led to the resignation of disgraced former Harvard University president Claudine Gay, questioned on X, “How is this worthy of the office of the president, particularly when POTUS’s fiscal policy was a big driver of inflation?”
How is this worthy of the office of the president, particularly when @POTUS’s fiscal policy was a big driver of inflation? https://t.co/TbZsK6qVu1
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) February 11, 2024
Steve Cortes, who advised former President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, also questioned Biden’s decision to discuss inflation, but also noted the degree to which the video was edited in his own post to X.
Cortes wrote that the video is “highly produced, and he still comes across as SO feeble, I can’t believe they’re posted it,” before adding that borrowing or printing money “causes Inflation, not food companies. Biden inflicts incredible harm upon American buying power.”
Harmeet Dhillon, the conservative lawyer who formerly challenged Ronna McDaniel for the Republican National Committee Chair position, also derided Biden’s video.
“How stupid do Obama’s advisors think we are?” She questioned, adding, “This is the least of our worries.”
How stupid do Obama’s advisors think we are? This is the least of our worries… https://t.co/jEYlH0XZvZ
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) February 11, 2024
Stephen Miller, the former speechwriter for Trump who founded America First Legal after the administration ended, wrote to X, “Fact check true: your dollar is worth far less under Biden.”
Brenden Dilley, the author and conservative pundit whose online support for Trump has generated national headlines, wrote that “Biden just told America the economy sucks and he has no idea how inflation works.”
Political correspondent Byron York had a quizzical response, questioning, “Is this real? AI? Deepfake? Joe Biden, of all people, is outraged by inflation and wants companies to ‘put a stop’ to it?”
Jack Posobiec of Human Events responded directly to Biden’s post, “Shrinkflation so bad it’s hitting your remaining brain cells. Imagine being so dumb you admit what’s happened under your administration.”
Shrinkflation so bad it’s hitting your remaining brain cells. Imagine being so dumb you admit what's happened under your administration
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) February 11, 2024
Despite the condemnation, Biden’s widely-derided message is not the first time the president has singled out rising prices as a concern.
On February 1, the New York Times reported Biden accused grocery stores of increasing prices to profit off their customers, taking aim against “price gouging, junk fees, greedflation,” and “shrinkflation” during an event in South Carolina.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to pappert.tom@proton.me
Image “President Joe Biden” by President Joe Biden.
