White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held her first press briefing on Tuesday and slammed the Biden administration for its role in high egg prices.
Leavitt — the 27-year-old New Hampshire native who is the youngest White House press secretary in history — fielded questions from the media in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
‘This is the most devastating wave of the bird flu outbreak we’ve seen since it began to spread three years ago.’
Christian Datoc, a White House reporter for the Washington Examiner, asked what the Trump administration is doing to combat the high price of eggs and the ongoing egg shortage.
Video shows Leavitt responding to the question by saying, “I’m really glad you brought this up, because there is a lot of reporting out there that is putting the onus on this White House for the increased cost of eggs.”
“I would like to point out to each and every one of you that in 2024, when Joe Biden was in the Oval Office or upstairs in the residence sleeping — I’m not so sure — egg prices increased 65% in this country,” Leavitt said. “We also have seen the cost of everything — not just eggs — bacon, groceries, gasoline have increased because of the inflationary policies of the last administration.”
Leavitt continued, “As far as the egg shortage, what’s also contributing to that is that the Biden administration and the Department of Agriculture directed the mass killing of more than 100 million chickens, which has led to a lack of chicken supply in this country; therefore, a lack of egg supply, which is leading to the shortage.”
The American Farm Bureau Federation stated in November, “Over 100 million birds throughout the poultry industry have been affected by HPAI since 2022, including 3.6 million this October. Egg layers and turkeys have been the most impacted, while broiler flocks benefit from being far away from the Central and Pacific flyways where HPAI is most prevalent in migratory birds.”
According to CNN, “The egg-laying birds either die naturally or are culled to avoid the spread of the deadly virus. It is up to farmers to report an outbreak to state officials and the Department of Agriculture, which will eliminate the impacted flock. Farmers can apply for financial assistance from the USDA if they lose their flocks.”
Leavitt concluded, “So I will leave you with this point: This is an example of why it’s so incredibly important that the Senate moves swiftly to confirm all of President Trump’s nominees, including his nominee for the United States Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, who is already speaking with Kevin Hassett, who’s leading the economic team here at the White House, on how we can address the egg shortage in this country.”
Officials have said the current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza has caused skyrocketing egg prices.
“This is the most devastating wave of the bird flu outbreak we’ve seen since it began to spread three years ago. And this time around, farms that cater to the retail sector have been disproportionately impacted, and that is leaving a big, gaping hole,” Karyn Rispoli, the managing editor at Expana, which tracks the price of eggs, told the New York Times.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and other Democrats politicized the soaring egg prices to attack President Donald Trump.
Warren and a group of Democrat members of Congress sent a letter about egg shortages and high food prices to Trump, just six days after he was sworn in.
“We write to ask about your administration’s plan to lower food prices for American families. Americans, in the first days of your new presidency, are facing egg shortages amidst an avian flu outbreak and still-high prices at the grocery store,” the Democrats said. “During your campaign, you repeatedly promised you would lower food prices immediately if elected president. But during your first week of office you have instead focused on mass deportations and pardoning January 6 attackers, including those who assaulted Capitol police officers.”
The letter read, “In the leadup to inauguration, you equivocated on grocery prices, saying ‘it’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.'”
The Democrats argue that grocery stores and egg producers could be using price-fixing to increase profits.
“To make food more affordable, you should look to the dominant food and grocery companies that have made record profits on the backs of working families who have had to pay higher prices,” the Democrats claimed. “These companies often exploit crises like pandemics and avian flu outbreaks as an opportunity to raise prices beyond what is needed to cover rising costs.”
Trump’s nominee for secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, has yet to be confirmed by Congress.
At her confirmation hearing on Thursday, Rollins told senators that one of her top priorities is to “immediately and comprehensively get a handle on animal disease outbreaks.”
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Egg shortage, Egg prices, All time high egg prices, Groceries, White house, Inflation, Karoline leavitt, Politics
