Failure of ‘Bidenomics’ seen in Biden’s visit to NC

President Joe Biden speaks outside Cook Out, a burger joint in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, as Gov. Roy Cooper, D-N.C., right, looks on. Biden is visiting North Carolina to highlight $82 million in new spending to connect 16,000 households and businesses to high-speed internet. Biden's reelection campaign is making winning North Carolina and its 16 electoral votes a top priority in this year's presidential election. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

There is an old saying about how a picture is worth a thousand words.  

Unfortunately for President Joe Biden, that was exactly the case during a visit he made to North Carolina last Thursday. 

Biden visited the Abbott’s Creek Community Center in Raleigh to tout “Bidenomics.” He bragged about the millions of dollars in high-speed Internet investments that he claims will “connect 16,000 additional homes and businesses, bringing high-speed Internet all across the state of North Carolina.” 

Though the speech was a little embarrassing at certain points ― like when he said he’d “created 440 new jobs” in North Carolina since elected and when he called out for Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross, claiming he’d taken a photo with her earlier in the day even though she was in Washington, D.C. ― it was something else that happened during his visit that caught the attention of his conservative critics. 

Biden and his entourage of handlers went to a local Cook Out location, where he proceeded to order a milkshake along with what appeared to be one of Cook Out’s combo trays. 

The burning question of what Biden ordered in addition to the milkshake was answered by local media outlets, which noted that he got a bacon cheeseburger and fries and that he paid for Gov. Roy Cooper’s tray as well as the customers who were also there waiting to order. 

Unbeknownst to Biden, however, the prices of the combo trays were visible in one of the photos he took with customers while there, which was posted by a member of his staff on Twitter.  

The price of the Jr. tray was listed as $6.59.  The price of their standard-sized tray was $7.69. 

Back in October 2020, though, during Biden’s first visit to what appears to be the same Cook Out location just a few weeks before Election Day, another photo was taken, also with the menu prices clearly visible in the background. 

The Jr. tray was $4.99. The standard-sized tray was $5.99. 

The press shop for North Carolina Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) took to the Twitter machine and posted both pictures side by side to demonstrate the folly of Bidenomics. 

“Thanks to #Bidenomics, a Cook Out tray costs 28% more than it did three years ago when Biden had his previous photo op,” they wrote. 

Oops! 

The tweet went viral, and the contrast between what the prices were before he took office versus what they are now a full three years into his presidency was also noted in several news reports including the Raleigh News & Observer as well as Fox News. 

Despite his spin to the contrary, Biden’s poll numbers on his handling of the economy have been consistently terrible for him. Photo ops that are designed to make him look like an average American could end up backfiring on him if Republicans are smart and use these photos in future campaign ads, especially here in NC. 

As I’ve said before, politicians often use a lot of words, videos, and charts to try and get their points across to voters. Joe Biden is no exception to that rule. 

But this is one of those instances where two photos that were taken a little over three years apart do all the talking necessary, speaking volumes and saying it all about what “Bidenomics” has done to the United States and what it will continue to do to this country unless Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are given their walking papers in November. 

North Carolina native Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah and is a media analyst and regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.