During a recent White House press briefing, a room full of reporters burst out in laughter following an exchange about the Cookie Monster’s political activism. Fox Business Network White House correspondent Ed Lawrence initiated the question with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre before an unidentified reporter chimed in with a hilarious one-liner.
“Thanks, Karine. So, Cookie Monster posted on X that shrinkflation is making his cookie smaller. The White House official Twit- — Twitter, or X, responded that — blaming shrinkflation, basically, on companies. So, does the President, again, believe that shrinkflation and inflation are solely a company problem? Or do his policies play any role in that?” Lawrence asked KJP.
The press secretary responded, illustrating the White House’s stance on companies allegedly providing consumers with less of a product at a higher price. KJP referred to an exchange on X between the official White House X account and the Cookie Monster about shrinkflation.
“So, also, from my tweet, I believe we said, “C is for consumers getting ripped off.” Right? And — and the President — the President has called on — on companies to stop — to stop, you know, taking advantage of Americans. He’s been very clear about that,” KJP said.
Jean-Pierre further elaborated on how Biden has called on companies to be more considerate of consumers when determining product quality and pricing. “He’s repeatedly called on large corporations, more specifically, to pass along their savings on to their customers. We’ve said that. We’ve been very consistent about that. And that includes rip-offs such as shrinkflation. We see that. And — where the size of a product, for those who don’t know, gets smaller, even as the price stays the same or increases. That’s what we’ve been seeing,” she added.
“And so, it’s giving families less bang for their buck. And the President has said — and I’ll quote him — “Tired of being” — the President said, “Americans are tired of being played for suckers.” And so, the President is going to have the Amer- — the American people’s back. That’s what he’s going to continue to do. He’s going to talk about this — not just shrinkflation but other ways that he sees corporations are ripping off Americans. You’re going to hear from him shortly about the — about the — what he’s doing next to — to deal with junk fees. And I think that’s really important. That’s what Americans want to see. They want to see their president fighting on their behalf,” KJP stated.
Lawrence and the press secretary continued debating shrinkflation, where the White House correspondent questioned why the Biden administration didn’t take this stance earlier in the president’s term when inflation hit historically high levels.
“And out of that Competition Council, the President is announcing that strike force. Why did it take the Cookie Monster to speak up or an election year for this strike force to go? Why not do it year- — a couple years ago when inflation was 9 percent?” Lawrence asked.
The press secretary disagreed with the Fox correspondent’s assertion while simultaneously pointing out the comedic nature of having a full-blown political discussion centered around the Cookie Monster. During her remarks, an unknown reporter inquired, “Does the president have full confidence in the Cookie Monster?” The entire room proceeded to erupt in laughter after the lighthearted comment.
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