There's been chatter about various Sesame Street characters on social media on Tuesday, as President Joe Biden and other Democrats try to use the television program to push their political talking points. Biden is faring poorly on multiple issues, and inflation has been a thorn in his side from the start. The administration's tactic is to always blame someone else, though, and so he's focused on targeting corporations for their prices and for the issue of "shrinkflation." He even awkwardly brought Cookie Monster into it during his Tuesday remarks at the Competition Council address. The official White House transcript billed the event as an announcement on "New Actions to Lower Costs for Hardworking Families by Fighting Corporate Rip-offs."
Right before he referenced Cookie Monster, Biden referenced inflation as if it was a positive for his administration. "Look, the good news is inflation is the lowest it’s been in three years," he shared. Inflation, however, is accelerating once more.
As Spencer wrote last week about the January numbers:
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, headline PCE inflation rose 0.3 percent in January and is up 2.4 percent over the last year.
Core PCE inflation — which excludes food and energy costs — increased even more in the first month of 2024 with a surge of 0.4 percent for an annual increase of 2.8 percent.
The PCE price index is known to be the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge. Notably, both annual inflation rates are above the Federal Reserve's target inflation rate of just 2.0 percent.
Last November, GoBankingsRate put out a piece examining the inflation rate for every president from Lyndon B. Johnson to Biden. Of those 11 presidents, former and potentially future President Donald Trump had the second lowest rate while Biden had the third highest.
"Many companies have done the right thing: They’ve helped lower costs for Americans. But even as supply chains are back to normal, some companies are still not passing along the savings to their consumers. Many corporations are raising their prices to pad their profits, charging folks more and more for less and less," Biden continued.
"In fact, some of the small snack companies you won’t and--think you won’t even notice what they’re doing when they charge you just as much for the same size bag of potato chips, only it has a hell of a lot fewer chips in it. I’ll tell you what--I’ll tell you who did notice: the Cookie Monster," the president said to awkward laughter. "He pointed out cookies are--his cookies are getting smaller. He’s paying the same price. I was stunned when I found out that’s what actually happened."
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BIDEN: "I'll tell you who did notice: the Cookie Monster" pic.twitter.com/wpCfUMpgte
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 5, 2024
Biden wasn't the first one, though, to bring up Sesame Street. During Tuesday's White House press briefing, reporters asked about a Monday post. The White House that reposted the Cookie Monster--yes he has an account--complaining about shrinkflation.
"C is for consumers getting ripped off," the cingreworthy post read, as it also noted that "President Biden is calling on companies to put a stop to shrinkflation."
C is for consumers getting ripped off.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 4, 2024
President Biden is calling on companies to put a stop to shrinkflation. https://t.co/4bkX8o3irI
Jean-Pierre took the opportunity to claim "the president is going to have the Amer--he 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," as she portrayed the corporations as the bad guy. "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," she previewed. "That’s what Americans want to see. They want to see their president fighting on their behalf."
The press secretary ended up posting the exchange and tagging the Cookie Monster after the briefing.
.@MeCookieMonster, we need you in the briefing room ASAP! It’s time to address how shrinkflation has left you feeling crumbled. But don’t worry, POTUS is on it, ready to pump up the dough for all our favorite treats. pic.twitter.com/U2rrz6uyLc
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) March 5, 2024
Biden wasn't the only Democrat to involve "Sesame Street." Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA), who is running for reelection this year, also went through great lengths, or at least he tried to. On Monday his account tagged or replied to Sesame Street characters in no less than six posts. This even included two fundraising pitches made in the replies to that Cookie Monster post.
Making the situation even more notable is that the Cookie Monster account actually hid the senator's reply.
I need your help to hold big corporations accountable for using shrinkflation to rake in record profits.
— Bob Casey Jr. (@Bob_Casey) March 4, 2024
Can you chip in $3 to help fight back? https://t.co/ZfXHF68B8X
I'm dying. @Bob_Casey has tweeted at the Twitter accounts for both Cookie Monster and Grover (from Sesame Street).
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) March 4, 2024
Cookie Monster HID CASEY'S REPLY. pic.twitter.com/UEHjPMdA52
We’re all on the same page that a U.S. Senator tweeting at 5 Sesame Street puppets like this is at best, way too thirsty and at worst, super creepy right? pic.twitter.com/OOhYAqkDWj
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) March 5, 2024
On Tuesday's episode of "The Five," co-host Dana Perino raised important questions, including who is running the account as it became so political, especially since "Sesame Street" is public television.
She also described Casey's attempts at responding to Cookie Monster's posts as being "so cringe that Cookie Monster then hid the reply," as she discussed how "there's some weird things going on on the Cookie Monster account." Perino also called on fellow co-host Jesse Watters to investigate the matter when it comes to who is running the account.
.@DanaPerino calls out @Bob_Casey for dodging responsibility for Bidenflation by complaining about shrinkflation and tweeting at puppets:
— Pennsylvanians for McCormick (@PAforMcCormick) March 5, 2024
"@Bob_Casey...he actually responds to @MeCookieMonster — it is so cringe; the Cookie Monster then HID the reply." pic.twitter.com/MPEErzxQk6
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