Sen. JD Vance, U.S. vice-presidential hopeful, is deservedly being mocked online for a recent campaign stop in Pennsylvania, where he blamed the high price of eggs on policies set by Vice President Kamala Harris.
He brought his children with him, and he stopped in front of the egg cooler at the store, where he made his claims against the current vice president, who is now running for president opposite Vance’s running mate.
Vance’s egg price stunt cracks
“Unfortunately, when you look at the prices here, they are way too expensive because of Kamala Harris’ policies. Let’s talk about eggs. … Eggs, when Kamala Harris took office were short of $1.50 a dozen. Now, a dozen eggs will cost you around $4, thanks to Kamala Harris’ inflationary policies,” said Vance, R-Ohio.
But video of Vance’s commentary showed him standing in front of signs that showed a dozen eggs priced at $2.99 a dozen and not $4 a dozen, and attentive internet users were quick to pounce on that. Multiple people commented on a social media post that he was lying and the price signs behind him are proof of that. They also mocked him for holding up a carton of eggs that was clearly more than a dozen while making a point about the cost of a dozen eggs.
But those aren’t the only reasons Vance looked like a buffoon when performing that publicity stunt. The impact of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was also pointed in the comment section of on a YouTube video of the event. And in overlooking that, Vance came across as out of touch with reality and his constituency.
HPAI losses still impacting egg prices
It’s bad enough that a few weeks ago, he showed that he didn’t know that Tom Vilsack was the U.S. secretary of agriculture, but now the vice-presidential candidate, who nearly two years ago was elected to serve a major-egg producing state, appears to be ignorant about the reduced supply because of all of the laying hen losses to HPAI. That, not policies set by the opposing political party, is the key reason that egg prices on the average are higher than they were four years ago.
How many times does this point have to be made before mud-slinging politicians pay attention?
That flawed mode of attack against the current presidential administration has been tried by other Republican politicians, including Sen. Rick Scott, Rep. Ron Estes and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. All the while, economists have made it known that animal disease has played a significant role in the rise of food prices.
That’s not to say that inflation isn’t happening with other goods, but considering the circumstances, eggs need to be left out of the conversation unless HPAI is also mentioned.
What an Ohio politician should know
What is most ridiculous about Vance’s blame game is that according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service, Ohio is the nation’s second-largest egg producing state.
And let’s take a look at what the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) says about the HPAI losses in Ohio alone since the beginning of the 2022-24 North American outbreak.
Fortunately, the Buckeye State has been spared of any HPAI cases in commercial poultry so far in 2024, but in 2022 and 2023 the state lost 8,238,300 laying hens to the virus. It also lost 1,363,900 pullets, which if they had survived would have grown to become laying hens.
And if that isn’t enough, Ohio also lost 48,200 commercial turkeys to HPAI.
Ohio poultry producers should feel insulted that their junior U.S. senator is unaware of or is looking past those losses. Either way, it shows he is being negligent in his duties of representing the interests of those constituents.
And yet, somehow, he thinks he deserves a promotion.
