Yang says Biden highlighting ‘shrinkflation’ because administration ‘is underwater with independents’

Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang said that President Biden is going after snack producers for “shrinkflation” because the administration is struggling to garner support from independent voters ahead of the 2024 election. 

The co-chair of the Forward Party said Biden and his campaign will keep reiterating the point that snack companies are ripping off consumers as part of efforts to win over independent voters who remain gloomy on Biden’s handling of the economy.

“They’re gonna have to keep making this case around the country because the Biden administration is underwater with independents who are going to decide this November’s election,” Yang said Tuesday during his CNBC’s “Last Call.”  

“They’re going to be trying anything they can to say, at least, ‘we’re on your side.’”

Shrinkflation is the practice of consumer products getting smaller in size, quantity or weight while the prices remain the same or even increase. 

Yang’s point about shrinkflation comes after Biden called out snack companies on Super Bowl Sunday.

“When buying snacks for the game, you might have noticed one thing: Sports drink bottles are smaller, a bag of chips has fewer chips, but they’re still charging you just as much,” Biden said in the ad posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

“I’ve had enough of what they call ‘shrinkflation.’ It’s a rip off.” Biden continued. “The American public is tired of being played for suckers.” 

Yang, who is currently backing Rep. Dean Phillips’ (D-Minn.) long-shot presidential campaign, has been critical of Biden, arguing the incumbent will likely lose to former President Trump in a rematch of the 2020 race.

White House National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard reiterated Biden’s message on shrinkflation in an interview on CNBC Tuesday.

“If you look at some of the staples, like eggs or milk, they have come down,” Brainard said. “But consumer brands, instead of actually lowering prices, they’ve shrunk packaging. That’s the shrinkflation that the president is really calling attention to.”

Yang said the tactic of focusing on shrinkflation could work for the Biden campaign.

“I mean, that’s a message that the average consumer has now in their head and ‘say, sure, like, I hate it when that happens,” Yang said. “The question is, whether that’s actually going to change corporate practices, but the optics of it are positive. And I think that’s why you’re seeing Biden officials hitting that message.”

Biden’s polling with independents has gone up recently. In late January, Biden polled at 37 percent with independents, a four percent uptick from December, according to an Emerson College Polling national survey. Additionally, in the same survey, his disapproval among independents shrunk from 52 to 45 percent.