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JD Vance was roundly mocked online over a trip to the supermarket where he bemoaned the steep price of eggs — and botched the photo opp.
The Republican vice presidential nominee stopped by a supermarket in Reading, Pennsylvania, with his sons over the weekend to illustrate how grocery prices have been impacted by “Kamala Harris’s policies” when he claimed a dozen eggs cost $4.
The problem? When footage of the visit emerged, Vance was quickly called out by viewers who spotted the price tag of a dozen eggs behind him was actually $2.99.
“Looking at the prices here, things are way too expensive and they’re way too expensive because of Kamala Harris’s policies,” he told shoppers.
He was interrupted by his son, who pointed at the egg cartons behind him. “Let’s talk about eggs,” Vance continued. “Because these guys actually eat about 14 eggs every single morning,” the Ohio senator said, pointing to his sons.
“Eggs, when Kamala Harris took office, were short of $1.50 a dozen. Now a dozen eggs will cost you around $4. Thanks to Kamala Harris’s inflationary policies, Pennsylvania actually has seen some of the worst grocery price increases of the entire nation, and again, it’s because she cast a deciding what vote on the inflation explosion act.”
While some eggs do cost over $4, the average price of a dozen was $3.20 in August, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In January 2023 the price was much higher, averaging at $4.82 per dozen.
TV producer and filmmaker Morgan J. Freeman posted on social media platform X: “Even in their own damn photo, it shows JD Vance is lying about the price of eggs.”
Another person wrote: “Hey, you might want to remove the price tags next time you lie on camera. Also, you’re holding a pack of 24 eggs. I know math isn’t your strong suit, but that’s two dozen.”
“They did all that then forgot to take the price tags off the eggs before they shot a video with him lying about the price of eggs,” another said.
Harris has previously pledged to enact a federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries to stop big corporations from “unfairly” exploiting consumers and raking in “excessive profits.”
The vice president, who has not gone into granular detail on her economic plans previously, will reportedly announce a new set of economic policies this week, according to Reuters.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, says his plan to lower the cost of groceries is to place tariffs on food imports.
“We allow a lot of farm product into our country,” he said at a town hall in Michigan last week. “We’re going have to be a little bit like other countries. We’re not going to allow so much — we’re going to let our farmers go to work.”
However, experts have said introducing tariffs could have the opposite effect, Axios reported, and ultimately raise prices.
Vance has been particularly prone to gaffes when his stops on the campaign trail have involved food.
He admitted the Trump campaign screwed up after an an awkward visit to a donut shop in Valdosta, Georgia, in August.
As the assembled media looked on, Vance struggled to make small talk while buying baked goods with an employee who clearly did not want to be on camera. The excruciating moment went viral. “I just felt terrible for that woman,” Vance later said.
And in Philadelphia, the Ohio senator tried to crack a joke when ordering a Philly cheesesteak at the famed Pat’s King of Steaks, but he wound up being accused of committing a “crime against humanity.”
“I don’t like Swiss cheese either, but everybody says it’s insulting,” Vance told a worker at the joint, which is considered the inventor of the cheesesteak and famously only uses American, provolone or cheez whiz in the delicacy. He asked: “Why do you guys hate Swiss cheese so much?”
The employee awkwardly replied: “We don’t hate it, we just don’t use it. We usually use cheez whiz.”
