GOP ridiculed for bizarre Biden mayonnaise smear

Twitter users are ridiculing North Carolina Republicans for a bizarre attack on Joe Biden over inflation and condiments.

The state party tweeted a link to a local news story about inflationary pressures on family-run restaurants, oddly choosing to highlight a line about one business owner claiming to spend an extra $200 per week on mayonnaise.

Naturally, the local GOP blamed the restaurant’s predicament on the president.

“Bidenflation strikes Winston-Salem, NC,” their tweet read.

“‘I am paying $200 more a week in mayonnaise’,” read the quote they chose to include.

The linked news item, from NBC affiliate WXII, explains that experts blame inflated prices on high demand due to the pandemic.

The White House says that inflationary pressures are expected to ease with time as the economy stabilises after 18 months of lockdowns, enforced closures, and supply chain issues.

The price index is up 5.4 per cent according to government data – the fastest surge in 13 years.

Quick calculations by some Twitter users found that for there to be an increase in expenditure of $200 a week on mayonnaise, a restaurant would have to be spending approximately $3,700 each week on the condiment.

A search of North Carolina wholesale restaurant suppliers shows that mayonnaise ranges from about $10 per gallon for AAK, to $11 for Duke’s from neighbouring South Carolina, and $15 for Hellman’s.

Taking the high-end price, this comes to an impressively extravagant 247 gallons of mayo a week. Using the low-end price, it is a nauseatingly gluttonous 370 gallons of condiment [even for someone who loves mayo].

“Somebody’s eating WAY too much mayonnaise,” tweeted author Jonah Blank.

“Just imagine the heroic amounts of mayo this restaurant must be going through,” added Facebook’s Tom Gara.

“And yet Biden REFUSES to open up the Strategic Mayonnaise Reserve!” joked a Twitter user.

Vox’s Aaron Rupar asked: “What designer drug is ‘mayonnaise’ code for?”

A sentiment that was echoed by another Twitter user, who noted: “You aren’t supposed to inject it directly into a vein.”

Another wrote: “This economy is rough on y fast-casual all mayonnaise restaurant.”

User @4everNeverTrump replied to the North Carolina GOP, tweeting the article excerpt: “Experts blame inflated prices on high demand due to the pandemic,” and adding: “Who was president when the pandemic began?”

Republican lawmakers have interpreted the jump in consumer and producer prices as a sign that inflation is spiking at levels that will hurt growth, saying that President Biden s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package overcooked the economy.

However, the White House believes it has an ally in the bond markets to make the case that inflation isn’t an economic threat and price increases are fleeting.

Interest rates on five-year US Treasury notes, and a measure of expected inflation that looks forward five years at investors’ expectations of inflation, so far appear to agree with the Biden administration and have remained relatively flat.