Earlier this month, a Farm Bureau survey revealed that the cost of Thanksgiving for 10 people will be 20 percent more expensive than last year. Even CNN covered the news. The pleasant surprise of such a news network acknowledging the role of inflation did not extend to mainstream broadcast networks, however. As a study from Media Research Center (MRC) found, the major networks didn't cover the role of Bidenflation at all.
Bill D'Agostino reported for MRC on Wednesday that from November 7-November 20, ABC, CBS, and NBC aired 13 different segments, for a total of 47 minutes and 31 seconds' worth of coverage on how to save money for Thanksgiving.
"Yet not a second of airtime on any of the three networks was spent connecting the record-breaking inflation with the reckless spending and money printing that have resulted from the Biden administration’s legislative priorities," D'Agostino mentioned.
Some of the cost-saving tips sound almost laughably cheap. Others sounded rather disgusting, even potentially unhealthy:
During the November 8 edition of NBC’s Today, correspondent Vicky Nguyen recommended that viewers save on accommodations by seating Thanksgiving guests on “folding chairs from poker night” or “a bench that can seat three people.” She also suggested limiting beverages to “one drink per person, per hour.”
Nguyen returned the following week to recommend cooking with soured milk.
On November 14, CBS Mornings ran a segment suggesting viewers replace meat dishes with vegetables — frozen, not fresh. Meanwhile, Good Morning America proposed a “flexible” approach, such as serving beef or chicken instead of Turkey.
When it comes to the talking points that such segments used for prices and costs, not only did President Joe Biden escape blame, newscasters seemed to use the White House's very talking points. Russia's invasion of Ukraine got the blame, with D'Agostino mentioning that "Russia also received some of the blame; NBC’s Today mentioned on November 15 that fertilizer costs were up as a result of the war in Ukraine, which in turn contributed to more expensive turkeys."
Those talking points were once more repeated earlier this week by the Biden administration's U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). As Spencer covered on Tuesday with regards to a recent USDA memo:
According to a memo released by the USDA, a "number of challenges" faced by American poultry producers are to blame — not the Biden administration's inflationary agenda. Among the issues the Biden USDA seeks to blame are an ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza, "Russia's war on Ukraine," and drought in the United States.
We've seen inflation rise to forty-year highs during the Biden administration. When it comes to the latest numbers, as Spencer highlighted earlier this month, the Producer Price Index (PPI) for October rose 0.2 percent and 8 percent in a 12-month period. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October similarly showed an increase from 0.4 percent that month, for a total of 7.7 percent increase since last October.
Such record-high inflation rates were due in large part to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which economists, including Democratic ones like Larry Summers, warned would lead to increased inflation. The White House not only ignored and denounced such warnings, but has continued to tout that legislation.
The White House continues to be shameless for this holiday, though, as it also released the most cringe worthy of talking points for Thanksgiving so that people can promote the Biden administration's agenda, which was further boosted on Twitter by the likes of White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.