White House Boasts Cookouts Are 16 Cents Cheaper This Year and the Internet Isn't Impressed

The Biden administration boasted on Thursday that cost of a Fourth of July cookout went down by 16 cents in 2021 compared to 2020, prompting backlash on social media.

The White House issued a tweet touting modest price decreases in foods popular over the holiday weekend. Savings highlighted in the tweet included the cost of a 13-ounce bag of potato chips dropping by 1 percent and a three-pound portion of center cut pork chops plummeting by 2 percent. A 32-ounce serving of pork and beans, listed at $1.90, represented the largest savings at a 13 percent reduction.

"Planning a cookout this year?" the tweet asked, alongside an animated image listing the price drops. "Ketchup on the news. According to the Farm Bureau, the cost of a 4th of July BBQ is down from last year. It's a fact you must-hear(d). Hot dog, the Biden economic plan is working. And that's something we can all relish."

A similar press release was issued from the White House. Twitter was largely unimpressed.

"16 cents?" tweeted Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price. "Home prices are going up 24% annually right now. The median home goes up 16 cents every 1.3 seconds right now."

"This is amazing! Just bought a house with all of the $0.16 cents I saved from hot dogs," comedian and writer Mohanad Elsheiky tweeted.

Twitter user @HRahmanNoodles said that the White House tweet showed that "reality is no longer distinguishable from satire."

"One of the great benefits of having a 78-year-old president is that he can just kill memes instantly by tweeting them," tweeted Yair Rosenberg, senior writer at Tablet magazine. "This is a step in the right direction, and I hope to see more of it."

"Where's my $0.16 check?" asked Twitter user @JesseDoctor.

User @ohDaveio responded to the White House tweet's selection of highlighted foods by commenting "ah that classic cookout food, pan full of ground beef."

"Thank God the cicadas were plentiful," @Cvetin tweeted, referring to reports of people eating cicadas.

"So what are you doing with your 16 cents," tweeted @trio1111.

"Apparently, no one at the Biden @WhiteHouse has been to the gas station recently," House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York tweeted. "The average price for a gallon of gas is $3.15. This is the HIGHEST price for a gallon of gas since 2014 and a 42% INCREASE from last year."

"I promise I didn't write this," tweeted Scott Lincicome, senior fellow for economic studies at Libertarian think tank The Cato Institute. "I approve, of course. But I didn't write it."

"Amazing!" progressive activist Jordan Uhl tweeted. "Thank you. Just booked a new vacation with the .16 cents I saved!"

"Hilarious tweet, but the White House is actually comparing prices now to *midst of the pandemic* in 2020 when prices were going crazy from April-June," tweeted John Cooper, communications director for the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. "Biden's own USDA pointed this out in March."

"I mayo may not be amused," writer Kelly Scaletta tweeted.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.