In recent years, commentary on the topic of beef in Republican politics has gotten a little weird. In 2019, for example, between stints in the White House, conservative commentator Sebastian Gorka publicly insisted that Democrats were determined to ban hamburgers.
That wasn’t true, of course, but then five years later, as Election Day 2024 approached, Donald Trump appeared desperate to terrify voters about the Democratic agenda. During a Fox News appearance, the Republican was asked to respond to a question from a child who asked about his favorite farm animal. “I’ll tell you what I love, I love cows,” Trump responded. “But if we go with [then-Democratic nominee Kamala Harris], you won’t have any cows anymore.”
This was odd. And it was not a one-time thing. The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank noted that the GOP candidate repeatedly warned voters at a variety of events that his Democratic opponent wanted to “get rid of your cows.” Trump added at one gathering, “You know, this is serious.” (This was not serious.)
In 2026, Republicans have moved on from such silliness, though the party’s rhetoric about the underlying subject continues to raise eyebrows. The Mississippi Free Press reported:
Americans who can’t afford beef a year into President Donald Trump’s second term ‘have so many proteins to choose from,’ U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican, said in response to a question about steep food costs.
She made the remarks during a Sunday interview with WLOX host Hugh Keeton, who asked her what Republicans are doing to get the cost of living under control, pointing to a key 2024 campaign promise President Donald Trump made when he said he would ‘end inflation on day one.’
During the interview, the GOP senator relied on the usual talking points, but specifically on beef costs, Hyde-Smith appeared to offer some guidance to American consumers who are struggling with costs: “You know, you have so many proteins to choose from.”
As part of the same answer, the Mississippi Republican suggested there was “no [oil] drilling for four years,” which generated higher fuel costs and higher consumer prices. Whether Hyde-Smith is aware of this or not, energy production under the Biden administration actually reached all-time highs, suggesting the senator had reality backward.
Nevertheless, her “proteins” comments did not go unnoticed by one of her Democratic rivals in this year’s elections.
“Mississippi families aren’t choosing between beef and other proteins as a lifestyle preference, they’re stretching every dollar to put food on the table,” Scott Colom said. “Meanwhile, Cindy Hyde-Smith sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and her answer to Mississippians struggling at the grocery store is to just eat something else?”
“That’s an insult to the people who sent her to D.C. Mississippi deserves a senator who fights for lower costs, not one who tells you your grocery list is your problem,” the local district attorney’s statement said.
