Biden Slams Grocery Chains For Rising Food Prices: 'Too Many Corporations in America Ripping People Off'

In the face of escalating inflation and a dwindling approval rating, President Joe Biden is urging major grocery chains to lower food prices, accusing them of capitalizing on the situation and exploiting consumers.

What Happened: Biden has started to put pressure on large grocery chains to decrease food prices for American consumers. The President has charged these stores with making excessive profits and taking advantage of shoppers, reported The New York Times on Thursday.

“There are still too many corporations in America ripping people off: price gouging, junk fees, greedflation, shrinkflation,” Biden stated last week in South Carolina. His aides have suggested that these remarks are a prelude to further pressure on grocery chains and other companies that are maintaining unusually high profit margins following a period of rapid price growth.

Despite inflation easing, voters are disgruntled about the high prices they are encountering at the grocery store, which is adversely affecting Biden's approval rating in the run-up to the 2024 election.

Prices of essentials like eggs, milk, and other staples soared by over 11 percent in 2022 and by 5 percent last year, amid a post-pandemic inflation surge that was the country's quickest burst of price increases in four decades.

While the rate of increase is decelerating rapidly, administration officials say Biden is keenly aware that prices remain too high for many families, even as key items, like gasoline and household furnishings, are now cheaper than they were at their post-pandemic peak.

However, there is a widespread belief among administration officials and their allies that there is little else Biden could do on his own to force grocery prices down quickly.

See Also: Nikki Haley Takes Swipe At Trump Over $50M Legal Bills: ‘He Can’t Beat Joe Biden If He’s Spending All His Time And Money On Court Cases’

Why It Matters: The inflation data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has been under scrutiny, with some, like economist Peter Schiff, criticizing the rise in costs of services like Netflix’s membership fees. However, Truflation suggests that inflation is lower than the government-reported rate of 3.4%.

The Federal Reserve has kept interest rates unchanged, indicating a pause in policy tightening. The Fed has also stated that it won’t reduce the target range until it has greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent.

Meanwhile, the latest Morning Consult poll reveals former President Donald Trump’s unprecedented 63-point lead and 75% support among Republicans, with potential for growth. Despite consistently holding a 50-point lead, Trump recently edged out Biden by 5 points, marking a 2-point gain for Trump and a 1-point decline for Biden from the previous week, indicating a two-week trend favoring Trump.

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