Hoo boy. David Brooks, op-ed columnist with the New York Times, is probably waking up to one heck of a ratio this morning. Why? Well, before his flight out of Newark, he decided to tweet about his meal and complain about the prices:
This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible. pic.twitter.com/1qeV9qOBL3
— David Brooks (@nytdavidbrooks) September 21, 2023
$78 for a burger, fries, and a sad-looking salad. David, that's on you (although that drink was probably $30 by itself). Airport food is always more expensive -- the property is more expensive and, frankly, they have a captive audience who will either pay or not eat. But the cost of a burger at the Newark airport is not why Americans think the economy is bad. They know the economy is bad because, unlike David, they live in the real world.
No David, I think the economy sucks because hamburger is $7 a pound and it costs me $65 to fill up my car.
— Deedo (@Deedo_70) September 21, 2023
Yes. According to AAA, the average price of gas today is $3.867/gallon (it was less than $3 back in Sept. 2020). And groceries? Yeah. Prices have risen 4.3% since August 2022, and other sources indicate that's on the low end.
Ground beef? $7.50 a pound.
Nah David, Americans know the economy sucks because we know ground beef has skyrocketed. Idk how much that drink you had cost because I’m not a power drinker. pic.twitter.com/uqCDcmHixG
— Bleu Cheque (@VERBAL_CHANCLA) September 21, 2023
Let the mockery commence!
This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible. pic.twitter.com/fVJSWOlXWC
— 🫃🏼💉🇺🇦Hollaria Briden, Esq. & Ally (@HollyBriden) September 21, 2023
All it needs is some cake.
Is that what a pound of hubris costs?
— FugitiveMama (@fugitivemama) September 21, 2023
Well done.
Yes because the majority of Americans buy their food in airports which have always been way over priced.
— Spooky Joe (@jmotivator) September 21, 2023
The Reality:
Americans think the economy is going poorly because the people who made any financial gains (raises, paid off debt) over the last 6 years watched those gains…
The tweet reads:
Americans think the economy is going poorly because the people who made any financial gains (raises, paid off debt) over the last 6 years watched those gains evaporate over the last 3 and haven't recovered. The people who pulled themselves out of poverty in the last 10 years find themselves back in poverty over the last 3. That is why people think the economy is going badly. Consider that the people who jet setting journalists will colloquially refer to as "living paycheck to paycheck" have effectively had that paycheck slashed, not from eating in airports, but filling the same grocery lists they have filled every week for years. If those same people were saving for a more reliable car they can no forget it, the costs of cars is growing faster than many people can save money for one, and loan rates make financing a car on a limited budge into fiscal suicide. People who were saving to buy a home? Same thing. They've watched the quality of the home they can afford decline as mortgage rates skyrocket. Many who went in to 2021 with a dream of getting their first home within the year watched their dream melt away. And jet setting journalists peer at a FRED graph or two, conclude that the economy is doing great, and think they've found the solution to the puzzle of the American people's disconnect in his over priced airport hamburger...
What a thorough takedown of Brooks and his snobbery.
From the Newark Airport Smashburger Menu...
— Powerbeard (@thePowerbeard) September 21, 2023
This is why Americans think journalists are terrible. pic.twitter.com/PoBj8feiDx
So either Brooks isn't being honest, or he doesn't know how to find a deal. Non-sequitur: a smash burger sounds good right about now.
This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible. https://t.co/PHZZvFBHcv pic.twitter.com/TCj6ukLQBZ
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) September 21, 2023
C'mon, that's funny.
NYT columnist David Brooks, who orders a double shot whiskey at Newark airport, strikes me as disingenuous. https://t.co/0wamGoTs7g pic.twitter.com/BcsFu269ND
— Oliver Darko (@oliver_drk) September 21, 2023
Wait ... $120,000 for a vacation? One of Twitchy's writers didn't even pay that much for her first house. Maybe, and we're just spitballin' here, Brooks is the one who is out of touch and wrongly thinks the economy is good.
Actually, David, the reason Americans think the economy is terrible is because you got more food there than we are now getting at the grocery store for the same $78. https://t.co/BQBFST4FM1
— International Man of Misery (@Machovell1an) September 21, 2023
Can confirm. If you shop for anyone other than yourself, you aren't getting much for $78.
This isn’t why Americans think the economy is terrible.
— RBe (@RBPundit) September 21, 2023
But your comment is definitely why people hate you. https://t.co/PvgVmQt5Kt
He's certainly covered himself in glory this morning.
It’s always funny when snobs have no idea how not to be snobs. https://t.co/Zy7xh9Gn5N
— Hooch (@CompanyHooch) September 21, 2023
Yes, it is. Also, it's funny to call them out for being snobs.
Burger $15
— Mike Duncan (@mikeduncan) September 21, 2023
Fries $5
Ketchup Packet $0
Multiple tumblers of high end whiskey at an expensive airport bar $55
Tip $3
someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying https://t.co/Ay3phYYqvK
Even Joyce Carol Oates is calling out Brooks for this.
(bar bill: $66. food bill: $12. tip: $0 N Y Times expense account) https://t.co/ZcmHOKuPIi
— Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) September 21, 2023
Ouch, David. Ouch.
Americans think the economy is terrible because the economy is terrible. Real wages have fallen every month since Democrats took over full control of the government in January 2021. https://t.co/Ebkud5vgRc
— Nick (@Nickster0188) September 21, 2023
Falling real wages + increased prices on everything = bad economy. It's that simple, David.
Biden hasn’t done a good job of conveying his message that Americans shouldn’t eat all their meals at the Newark Airport https://t.co/jpavkzvplT
— Eric Levitz (@EricLevitz) September 21, 2023
Right? We should've known.
This @CommunityNotes deserves an award: pic.twitter.com/gMUL3jN4M8
— Joshua Hartley (@JHartley2) September 21, 2023
And Community Notes for the win! Brooks should've known someone would dig into this.
It'd be fun to be a fly on the wall when Brooks opens Twitter/X and sees he's getting ratio'd into orbit. Let's make some popcorn.
***
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy Twitchy's conservative reporting taking on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth. Join Twitchy VIP and use the promo code SAVEAMERICA to get 40% off your VIP membership!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member