They Think You Are Stupid — Muppet Edition

About a month ago, a post from the X account of Sesame Street's Elmo went viral by simply asking users, "How is everybody doing?" It earned an avalanche of responses that ranged from hilarious to downright disturbing. Even the 12-year-old emoters that run President Biden's account jumped in with a tone-deaf offering:

It probably never occurred to the communications "professionals" that the downstream effects of "Bidenomics" and looming foreign policy threats might have people feeling a little down. Now, in a horribly transparent move, the juveniles in the White House communications shop tried to recreate a viral Sesame Street moment to support the president's ridiculous "shrinkflation" narrative. This time, Cookie Monster weighed in:

The administration wants you to believe a children's character posting about the effects of Bidenomics was totally organic because they think you are stupid. The galaxy brains at the White House X account quoted Cookie Monster asserting, "C is for consumers getting ripped off." The unfiltered responses to their post should have alerted them to the complete failure of their effort. Users assured them that C actually stood for things like corruption, control, crack, CCP, and collusion. 

Then the worst press secretary in White House history, Karine Jean-Pierre, had to take a scripted question about Cookie Monster's post. In the only true words she has ever uttered from the podium. "I can't believe I am having a conversation about the Cookie Monster at the podium." You are not alone, KJP. You are not alone. 

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She admitted to making the official White House quote post and proceeded to assert that the muppet's post took its perspective from the administration's rhetoric on consumer prices. Even Sesame Street veteran and the original voice artist for Cookie Monster, Frank Oz, noted the political nature of the post:

When President Biden made his official remarks later on Tuesday announcing his new Competition Council and other bizarre policies like capping late fees on credit cards, he also mangled a reference to Cookie Monster's post on shrinkflation. “I’ll tell you what, I tell you who did notice, Cookie Monster. He pointed out cookies, or his cookies are getting smaller, paying the same price," Biden said. "I was stunned when I found out that’s what actually happened.” 

Team Biden wants you to believe that fewer potato chips are in the bag because of illegal price collusion, not increased producer prices. Perhaps they don't understand that when you pay more for potatoes at the grocery store, you realize the potato chip producers are, too. They also want you to believe that the X post by Cookie Monster was not coordinated and contrived. They really think you are stupid. 

Perhaps, if the White House wants to make economics child's play, they should take a cue from an MIT graduate, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). He tried to help by sharing a simple explanation about what causes inflation using a glass of tea. "The principle is called dilution. And when you print five trillion dollars, and you put it into the economy, you have diluted the value of the money."

Try Massie's explanation with a 12-year-old in your life. You might just find out they are smarter than the DEI hires in the White House communications office.