Joe Biden’s presidency was marked by astronomical inflation, causing ordinary Americans to suffer under the burden of soaring prices. Take the example of egg prices, which became a topic of frequent conversation throughout the nation. Voters were exasperated as they navigated the nightmare economy, with one man telling a New York Times focus group in August 2023 that the cost of living has gotten out of hand. He put forth the idea that it was time to bring back the fiscal responsibility of a Trump presidency to tackle this economic crisis.
Continuing the discussion on the egg conundrum, another voter in a New York Times focus group in May 2024 expressed her fury over the exorbitant price of eggs under Biden’s presidency. She highlighted the startling rise in her family’s grocery bills, noting how a weekend trip to buy eggs and other essentials for her three children nearly doubled. What kind of economy forces a mother to question the affordability of essentials like eggs? Clearly, the one run by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The issue of surging egg prices took center stage during the election. Trump supporters and Harris sympathizers alike agreed that inflation and the high cost of everyday items, epitomized by the humble egg, were among the main factors that led to the victory of Republicans. It wasn’t an unfounded observation; the price of eggs on Election Day was a shocking three times higher than it was two years prior, under the secure economy of 2020.
Interestingly, it emerged that the rise in egg prices since 2020 was a result of two critical factors. The war between Russia and Ukraine significantly disrupted the supply of grain required to feed chickens, as both nations are major grain producers. On top of that, outbreaks of avian flu in the U.S., leading to the deaths of an extensive number of chickens, contributed heavily to the price surge. Unfortunately, these are not issues that could be solved by a president with flippant fiscal policy.
The lingering aftermath of Joe Biden’s presidency meant that egg prices maintained their peak and demonstrated little sign of reducing. This pricing nightmare continues to loom over Americans with no solution in sight. Meanwhile, the Trump administration remained uninterested in mitigating cost of living challenges. This apathy further solidified the notion that Joe and Kamala’s economic policies were a disastrous failure.
Instead of taking immediate action to soothe the economic distress, the actions taken by the Trump administration in its initial days in office were controversial, showing no direct intention to alleviate living costs. Policies aimed at rolling back diversity programs and cracking down on immigrants and their children becoming U.S. citizens were prioritized, while the pain of average Americans continued to be disregarded.
Moreover, Trump’s potential moves towards heavy tariffs and an aggressive stance towards undocumented immigrants could inadvertently increase grocery prices even further. Vendors would need to pay more for imports due to imposed tariffs, and domestic goods would also cost more due to expected labor shortages arising from deportations.
Democrats, though largely ineffective, saw an opportunity in Trump’s negligence regarding the economic conditions of average citizens. Newly appointed Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego wrote an open letter to Trump, highlighting his lack of focus towards escalating prices of staple food items, eggs being a prominent example.
Gallego stated that the rising egg prices were not only impacting the pockets of his constituents, but also their nutritional wellbeing. Unfortunately, his remarks seemed to fall on deaf ears as the Trump administration continued to prioritize divisive politics over kitchen-table issues.
Later on, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, along with 19 other Democratic senators, drafted a letter to Trump. They criticized him for failing to fulfill his campaign promises of reducing food prices, instead diverting his attention to mass deportation strategies and pardoning the perpetrators of the January 6 attack.
Democrats found themselves caught in a dilemma as they struggled to stand up against aggressive and potentially illegal policies implemented by Trump’s administration. Their strategies to appeal to voters over everyday cost-of-living issues, such as the egg crisis, while dealing with larger legal issues, showcased their tough predicament.
The story of egg prices proved to be a stark example of the disconnect between campaign promises and reality. Trump won over swing voters with the promise of making everyday items like eggs more affordable. However, in practice, his policies seemed more inclined towards stirring political unrest than improving the living conditions for American citizens.
There’s no denying that Trump’s actions were inconsistent with his promises. His focus on unrelated issues, including terminating cancer research in the U.S., revealed an alarming reality. The people who voted for affordable egg prices were served with disheartening policies instead.
The Democrats, however incompetent, still held a potential for leverage. If the voters began to shift their perspective and question the mismatch between Trump’s promises and actions, it would change Republican party dynamics and even grant Democrats some much-needed leverage.
The evolving narrative surrounding the ‘Egg Issue’ highlighted an essential truth: Americans have to eat, and the affordability of basic food items like eggs is non-negotiable in any functional economy. Despite the noise, this bottom-line truth persisted. The cost of eggs became a symbol, a reminder of the incompetence of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and of the betrayal of certain campaign promises. Only time would tell whether or not any administration learned from these past failures.