Burrito price fight splits GOP as midterms loom over affordability

A viral gripe about the cost of a burrito has turned into an open feud among conservative commentators over how the GOP should talk about affordability heading into the midterms.

The fight started Wednesday when Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet relayed a complaint from a college student: “A burrito shouldn’t cost $20.” Mr. Kolvet added that the frustration was rooted partly in pandemic-and Biden-era inflation, but that “the lived experience is the same: It just feels like basic things cost too much.”

The post followed Daily Wire host Matt Walsh’s complaint hours earlier that grocery prices remained “insane” and should be a top priority for elected officials. Mr. Kolvet’s reply set off a split between conservatives who blame inflation for the sticker shock and those who argue young people simply need to cook and budget better.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Texas Republican, was blunt in a Wednesday night post, telling critics to “stop whining, get a job” and cook ramen on a budget the way he says his generation did. Mark Hemingway, a senior writer at RealClearInvestigations, pushed back, warning that dismissing the complaints as entitlement “could prove toxic to the GOP.”

Chipotle burritos typically run $9 to $12 depending on location, and cheaper chains such as Taco Bell charge less, which fiscal conservatives cited as proof that a $20 burrito is an avoidable indulgence rather than a symptom of a broader cost crunch. Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen was dismissive from the start, initially telling students to eat their prepaid cafeteria meals rather than go out. He followed up by arguing a burrito hits $20 only through delivery apps, adding that critics were “too lazy to walk over to Chipotle or Taco Bell.”

Mr. Thiessen said he lived on ramen noodles and worked two jobs after college without complaint, a line that drew a jab from Vice President J.D. Vance, who replied that “the man has never missed a burrito,” according to the Daily Beast.

Populist-aligned voices said the mockery was missing the point. Defense of Freedom Institute spokeswoman Angela Morabito warned that if the party’s answer to affordability complaints is telling people “to eat worse food, we will lose, and we will deserve it.” Bradley Devlin, politics editor at the Daily Signal, argued that many commentators in the fight hadn’t spoken to a young adult in years, since “people with thoughts on the youths have not spoken to one in years.”

The dispute lands against a backdrop of genuine price pressure. Federal data cited by Newsweek show grocery prices are up roughly 35% over the past decade and restaurant prices up about 51%, with a July Washington Post-Ipsos poll finding 65% of Americans call groceries unaffordable. That data point is likely to keep fueling the fight over which wing of the party has the better answer as Republicans head into midterm campaigns where affordability has emerged as a central line of attack.