It started with a simple post you’d expect from the opposition party in advance of a new administration taking office.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the highest-ranking Democrat and Black man in U.S. government, called President-elect Donald Trump to task for backtracking on his campaign promise to cut grocery costs.
“Republicans have spent four years promising to lower grocery prices,” Jeffries posted on his “X” account Saturday morning. “Keep your word.”
In a recent interview with Time magazine, Trump acknowledged doing so won’t be easy.
“It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up,” Trump said. “You know, it’s very hard.”
What followed was a healthy conversation about the impact rising energy prices and higher costs for transportation and labor had on the supply chain.
Well, not exactly. Instead, MAGA nation coined what some considered to be a racist nickname for Jeffries: “Dollar Store Obama.” By Monday morning it was trending on X.
Republicans have spent four years promising to lower grocery prices.
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) December 14, 2024
Keep your word.
“do all people of color look alike to you?” remarked one of the platform’s users.
“Hakeem, sorry, but not sorry, you are a dollar store knock-off of Obama. You dems have had 4 years to make America great, and all you want to do is flood our country with illegals and destroy everything my grandfather and many other grandfathers fought for. You will lose,” said another.
MAGA nation, insulted at being accused of insulting people, responded with more insults.
“WhiteLiberals are the TRUE RACISTS! 100%,” opined one MAGA user.
Another was even more direct.
“Old democrats are disgusting, anti white scum,” concluded another.
One commenter pushed back with some humor, “Dollar Store Obama” is trending so the racist MAGA MORONS must be butt-hurt about something. Well, at least it’s not Dr Suess, M&M’s, or Mr Potato Head.”
Lowering grocery prices was a major theme of Trump’s presidential campaign, laying the blame squarely at the feet of President Joe Biden and his vice-president, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
“When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price over a short period of time,” Trump said recently on “Meet the Press.” “I won an election based on that. We’re going to bring those prices way down.”
But a president can’t single-handedly control the cost of household staples.
Economists say, besides supply chain disruptions, the effects of climate change, as seen in California, where much of the nation’s produce comes from, unprecedented heat and a significant drought played a role in the rising price of fruits and vegetables.
Agricultural economist David Ortega noted in a recent PBS interview how the war in Ukraine, a major supplier of wheat and sunflower oil, set off rising commodity prices on the global market.
Trump proposed solutions call for increasing domestic energy production and slapping high tariffs on imports from countries including Mexico and Canada, among the largest suppliers of U.S. agricultural products. But experts say those tariffs will ultimately raise costs for American consumers.
When asked about tariffs, Trump punted, telling “Meet the Press” on Dec. 8, “I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t guarantee tomorrow,” he said.
