Happy Wednesday, Show Mo Facts supporters! In today’s blog post, we’ll evaluate and fact-check an advertisement posted on Twitter by the current Missouri Attorney General, Eric Schmitt. Schmitt is Missouri’s Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate and is up against Trudy Busch Valentine. As we mentioned in Monday’s post, this whole week we’ll be focusing on Schmitt!
In this advertisement, we see Schmitt grilling burgers for his family while stating “facts” about Biden causing inflation and how much more money Americans are having to spend per month due to President Biden.
Claim: “Thanks to Biden, it now costs an arm and a leg to cook out. Ground beef is up 36%”
Fact: In reality, ground beef prices have only gone up 12% in the last year. The rise in ground beef prices is almost completely unrelated to Joe Biden. While prices have gone up, it’s due to a decrease in supply. The beef cow population in the U.S. has decreased by a full 1%. Additionally, farmers across the country have seen severe drought which forced 40% of farmers to liquidate a portion of their herds. Due to pasture land drying out, there’s not enough food for the cows to eat. These conditions have forced some farmers to sell all or part of their herds early. Multiple states in the top 10 beef-producing states suffered from these droughts.
Although Missouri has not been hugely affected by these droughts, ground beef prices have not risen more in MO than the 12% the U.S. is seeing as a whole. Although it is easy to blame Biden, the main issue is the supply, as mentioned above, the number of cattle in the U.S. is lower than it has been in 10 years. Additionally, Schmitt’s ad does not claim that the Missouri beef prices are higher, just in general.
Schmitt mentions in the ad that ground beef prices are up 36%. This claim is only partially true, as the 36% increase in ground beef was referring to the prices during the Fourth of July weekend, from the holiday in 2021 to 2022. During popular cookout weekends, prices on traditional BBQ foods almost always increase.
Schmitt’s claim is gatekeeping. He is redirecting the flow of information in order to make himself look better. That claim was true, for one weekend. However, Schmitt states the statistic as if it’s still the case. Which it is not, because as of August 1st, 2022 ground beef prices are up 12% in the U.S. Schmitt is very clearly setting an agenda here, telling people what to think and also what to believe. The false claims Schmitt makes in this advertisement are very dangerous, as many people won’t think to fact-check, they will just believe his claim.
Due to the misdirection, false information, and no facts to back anything up, we rate this advertisement EXTREME on our Pants on Fire O-Meter.
For the other part of Schmitt’s claim of Biden’s policies being the sole cause of inflation, please read our past blog here which breaks this down!
Thank you for reading Show Mo Facts! Be sure to follow us on Twitter as well as like and comment on this post. Also, send us any ads that you see and would like us to cover through our Contact page. If you’d like to check out another blog from our class, we recommend Gateway To Facts. They are fact-checking the MO DNC. Find them here!
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