Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was ridiculed en masse Monday night after recommending Americans consider alternatives to beef amid an extraordinary spike in ground beef prices.
“If [beef] is too expensive, unlike fuel, you can eat chicken, pork, salmon, eggs… there are other sources of really good protein, and all of those prices are coming down as well,” Rollins said during a recent appearance on “The Benny Show,” the political podcast hosted by conservative commentator Benny Johnson.
“And listen, I’m a mom of four, I’m still feeding a whole bunch of kids, very hungry kids. We realize the price of groceries are too high. We’re doing everything we can to bring them down after the Biden years of crazy, crazy inflation.”
Rollins’ claim that prices for other protein sources were “coming down” is inaccurate. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of eggs, while lower than in 2025, has increased in recent months, increasing by 4.3% from May to June, falling by 0.5% from June to July, and then increasing again by 2.9% from July to August. Pork and chicken costs both increased by 0.4% from July to August.
Meanwhile, prices for ground beef hit a new record after reaching an average price of around $7.16 per pound as of August, an increase of 0.6% from July and 7.9% when compared with the previous year.
“If Joe Biden said anything close to this, MAGA would’ve had a total meltdown,” argued Democratic influencer Harry Sisson in a social media post on X to his more than 400,000 followers. “Now this is just part of Trump’s messaging. Hypocrisy at its finest.”
Others, like the progressive media organization MeidasTouch, jokingly argued that Rollins was “about two weeks away from telling people they can always eat bugs.”
“You will eat the bugs, you will live in the pod,” quipped Damin Toell, a New York-based attorney, in a social media post on X.
MeidasTouch co-founder Brett Meiselas noted the irony of Rollins’ recommendation to Americans given President Donald Trump’s pledge to lower grocery prices in the lead-up to the 2024 election.
“In 2024, Republicans warned that if I voted for Kamala Harris, I wouldn’t be able to get a hamburger,” Meiselas wrote. “Well, I voted for Kamala Harris. Two years later, it turns out they were right.”
Brooke Rollins: If beef is too expensive, you can eat chicken, eggs, other great sources of protein. pic.twitter.com/QpmH1fH6uK
— FactPost (@factpostnews) September 21, 2026