Look, I’m old enough to remember the many months in 2025 when the stalwart Democrats of Pod Save America and Crooked Media were insisting that national Democrats should focus their messaging on affordability and bring everything back to the price of eggs. But, like, you know…in a natural way.
This was a big part of the Democrats’ attempts to drill Trump on inflation and the rising cost of living.
It’s the economy, stupid!
Trump promised to fix the economy, and he has only made it worse with corruption, illegal tariffs, and illegal bombing campaigns. (Are we allowed to call it a war with Iran when war hasn’t been declared? I’m confused.)
So: Inflation bad. Trump economy bad. Keep It Simple, Stupid, and bring all your critiques of Trump back to the price of eggs. Americans are so self-involved, we can only concern ourselves with our own bottom line. We don’t care about nuance, right?
So, the price of eggs. A winning message at last.
Letters were written to Trump’s administration by Democrat House members. What are you going to do about the price of eggs?? Elizabeth Warren kept going on about the eggs. It was all anyone on the left could talk about! They very much considered egg prices to be a strategic messaging victory for the left.
So imagine my surprise while watching Netflix’s The Ultimatum when the group of men began discussing one of the women in the cast. Oh Hayley, they said. She’s such a smart girl. She’s interested in things, you know? Like, we were talking and she knew all about why eggs are so expensive, one man explained.
Yes! I thought. The dem messaging is working! It has trickled down! They’re talking about it on reality TV! Win!
…because Biden killed all the chickens, he went on, as my jaw hit the floor. Murmurs of assent all around the circle. These men get it. Most girls don’t know stuff like that, he said, in praise of Hayley.
This is one based chick, amirite?
So maybe this Democratic messaging ‘win’ was a Trojan Horse all along—they accidentally succeeded in getting everyone thinking about the price of eggs, and now it has backfired spectacularly.
So what IS the deal with the price of eggs?
Yes. He did.
I mean, not personally. He’s not the little boy in The Wringer.1
But Biden did kill the chickens.
Or, more accurately, the USDA followed its longstanding disease-control policy under Biden. It is continuing to follow that policy under Trump. Apparently Trump is killing the chickens too, while cutting funding for programs that would monitor and prevent disease outbreak in the first place, although this has not yet made its way into the reality television discourse.
Bird flu spreads rapidly through poultry farms and can wipe out entire flocks within days. USDA’s primary containment strategy is “stamping-out”: rapidly killing infected and potentially exposed birds before the virus can spread. Vaccination may eventually supplement that response, but USDA says it will not eliminate the need to cull infected flocks.
So yes, the Biden administration followed the law. I can see why that might strike members of the current administration as anathema.
No, not quite.
But supply went down (“Biden’s fault”) and demand did not, so—isn’t this very basic Econ 101, Julia? Prices go up!
Yes. Bird flu undeniably reduced the supply of laying hens. Feed, labor, transportation, and other production costs also created real upward pressures. Egg prices would have risen.
But mainly this was about the dead chickens, right?
Well, perhaps not.
In June, the Justice Department and 17 states accused Cal-Maine, Hickman’s, and Versova, three major egg suppliers, of coordinating bids in order to manipulate an industry benchmark used to set wholesale egg prices. In other words, an actual supply crisis provided cover for alleged corporate price manipulation.
Cal-Maine alone reported $1.22 billion in profit during its 2025 fiscal year.
This would be the “greedflation” you’ve likely heard about.
Oligarchy strikes again!
The companies deny wrongdoing, but DOJ says the benchmark dropped significantly after the companies learned of the investigation so…you be the judge.
If the proposed settlement goes through, then these egg companies will have to put in new antitrust compliance measures. They will also have to pay a combined $3.3 million to the 17 states involved in the suit. And they will have to donate over 53 million eggs to food pantries and related nonprofits in those states.
I’m just disappointed that this disciplined democratic messaging strategy (“it’s all about the price of eggs!”) backfired so spectacularly. Apparently all that is trickling down to the general population in this warped information ecosystem is “Biden killed the chickens.”
Not: Trump promised to lower your prices. Are your prices down?
Sigh.
My hopes for November wither with the grass outside my window. I think this country might be doomed. Anyone have room for me in their bunker…?
Somehow I do not think today’s article will provide inspiration for my next picture book. But if you’re interested in my newest picture book, you can find it here!
Buy Shelby the Sheepish Sheepdog
Though now that I say that, maybe this could become something in the YA space. A chicken trying to survive an outbreak of avian flu, escaping the USDA and life on his brutal chicken farm. Sort of a post-apocalyptic dystopian coming-of-age novel meets concentration camp story, but with chickens… Everything is inspiration, these days!
A book that fully traumatized me at a tender age. I’m sorry but HOW was this required reading?? And they call us snowflakes… Gen Alpha could never.
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