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.
A multi-millionaire telling people to eat other protein that they also cannot afford is about as close to a “let them eat cake” moment as we’ll probably get.
Absolutely true, no argument there, but North America has a particular problem with animal protein as a cultural thing. It’s just basic stuff like portioning. You look at the amount of meat that goes on a plate for one person in an American family restaurant and compare it to what would go into an average stir fry, for example, and the difference is ridiculous. Even without getting into alternative protein sources we can start by just addressing the fact that at a basic level we eat a totally unnecessary amount of meat up here.