**Thanksgiving Costs Spike Under Biden-Harris Administration Compared to Trump Era**
The cost of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner—complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and pie—has surged under the Biden-Harris administration, leaving many Americans struggling to maintain holiday traditions.
A recent Economist/YouGov survey reveals that 37% of Americans say their Thanksgiving plans have been altered due to rising food prices. With inflation affecting even holiday staples, many are reconsidering how they celebrate the cherished holiday.
This sharp rise in costs highlights a stark contrast to Thanksgiving under former President Donald Trump, when families enjoyed lower food prices and fewer financial concerns during the season of gratitude.
**Thanksgiving Turkeys Gobble Up Budgets Under Biden-Harris Administration**
Take turkey, a staple of Thanksgiving dinner. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of “other uncooked poultry including turkey” in the U.S., unadjusted for seasonality, has soared by 23% from October 2020—when President Donald Trump was concluding his first term—to October 2024, nearly four years into the Biden-Harris administration.
This significant increase underscores the financial strain many Americans feel as they prepare for the holiday, with higher prices for Thanksgiving essentials adding to the burden of inflation.
Potatoes — a main side for millions of Americans on Thanksgiving — have gone up 11 percent since October 2020, per the Consumer Price Index (CPI). One cannot forget the spuds’ accoutrements, either. While the prices have remained relatively unchanged from last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics still points out that the prices for sauces and gravies rose 7.5 percent for the 12 months ending in October 2023.
Overall, however, sauces and gravies are up 25 percent since October 2020.
Fresh biscuits, rolls, and muffins have gone up 28.5 percent in the same time period. Everyone knows rolls and biscuits are not complete without butter, which is now up 29 percent as well.
And what is Thanksgiving without pie? Unfortunately for Americans, the cost of frozen and refrigerated bakery products, pies, tarts, and turnovers is up 27 percent since October 2020, per the non-seasonally adjusted CPI figures.
This news comes as Americans met similar struggles assembling their Labor Day cookouts mere months ago, dealing with ground beef up 26 percent, hot dogs up 25 percent, and beer up 16 percent since Biden and Harris took office.
Many are looking to President-elect Trump to lower prices after four years of rampant inflation, as economic woes emerged as a top issue for voters in the presidential election. As the results indicate — Trump garnering 312 Electoral College votes, sweeping all seven swing states, and winning the national popular vote — voters were largely disillusioned with the “solutions” offered by Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz.
During an October interview with ABC News’s Michael Strahan, Walz struggled to explain why voters should not blame Harris — who cast the deciding vote for the inflationary $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan — for rising prices.
And we see some of the data, but data doesn’t impact people in their daily lives, going to the grocery store,” Walz said. “And you see false information — whether it’s bird flu impacting eggs — but the reality for most people is, if those costs are up, they want to know what you’re going to do about it.”
I think that’s why she’s focusing on making sure whether it’s home ownership more affordable, tax cuts for the middle class. And let’s just be candid about this, this price gouging piece of this,” Walz said, failing to answer the question in a meaningful manner.