(PatriotWise.com)- When the baby formula shortage began in April, new parents were in a panic. While Congress had just sent $40 billion to Ukraine in May, 40% of popular baby formula brands had already been sold out for weeks, exacerbated by global supply chain issues and the closing of a factory belonging to major manufacturer Abbott, who produces the top U.S. brand Similac.
For over a month, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has had no updates regarding the ongoing formula shortage. Jake Schneider of RNC Research has kept receipts of Jean-Pierre’s ignorance.
From mid to late May, Jean-Pierre claimed that she did not have a “timeline” on when parents could buy baby formula or when the crisis would ease. In June, she claimed that she was unsure if the White House was briefed on the shortage, or if any specific person first briefed the president. Although she claims that “some announcements” were made, questions continue to linger.
“The president has made this a priority,” Jean-Pierre said at another briefing, but a report from Politico shows otherwise.
KJP, June 16:
"The president has made this a priority," but I don't have any other information. pic.twitter.com/eiQbo5Amkf
— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) June 21, 2022
According to Politico, the White House knew about the impending shortage for months, but the crisis wasn’t elevated as a “top level crisis.” It was only after social media posts began to go viral showing empty shelves that the White House began to take steps to mitigate the shortage. Officials reportedly claimed that they thought the situation was under control.
Last month, Biden’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Xavier Becerra said that the Food and Drug Administration kept him updated on the crisis since last year. Speaking to CNN, he said “we have been moving as quickly as we can.”
CNN: "You are satisfied with the government's response throughout [the baby formula shortage]?"
HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra: "FDA has kept me apprised of this from LAST YEAR. We have been moving as quickly as we can" pic.twitter.com/5WRZa5chYg
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 16, 2022
While White House officials claimed that they were working with formular producers since as early as February, the president himself reportedly said he did not know about it until April.
Clearly, there has been a severe lack of communication between the president and his staff. It’s almost like he isn’t even running the country.
In order to deal with the empty shelves, formula has had to be imported from the UK and Europe.
