Trump didn't say cereal is now $100 a pound at press conference | Fact check
The claim: Trump said cereal costs $100 a pound at press conference
An Aug. 17 Threads post (direct link, archive link) shows former President Donald Trump speaking next to a table of groceries at a campaign event. The post, which is a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter, also purports to share a quote from Trump.
"You used to be able to get cereal for 20, 30 bucks a pound," reads the purported quote. "Now it's at least a hundred dollars a pound, probably. They debit it straight from your account when you show them your grocery ID."
The Threads post was reposted more than 700 times in two days.
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Our rating: False
Trump criticized President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for their handling of inflation at an Aug. 15 news conference, but video of the event shows he didn't say the quote in the post.
Post shares false quote from Trump's news conference in NJ
Trump attacked the economic record of the Biden-Harris administration at the campaign event Aug. 15 at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, delivering remarks beside tables arranged with common grocery store items such as breakfast cereal, bread and milk.
"Grocery prices have skyrocketed," Trump said at the news conference, according to video of the event shared by C-SPAN. "Cereals are up 26%. Bread is up 24%."
Trump went on to list price increases for other grocery items since Biden took office, but he did not say the quote in the Threads post. Footage of the event shows Trump said nothing about purchasing cereal by the pound or using a "grocery ID." There are no credible news reports about him saying that or saying cereal is $100 per pound.
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The X post shown in the Threads post also did not include any corroborating evidence to support the claim.
Charts at the event showed price increases for certain food groups under the Biden-Harris administration. One chart showed cereal and bakery products were up 26%, for example.
That's in line with the change in the consumer price index for cereal and bakery products since January 2021, when Biden took office. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data collected by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows a 25% increase for this food group from January 2021 to July 2024.
However, year-to-year inflation has eased since reaching a 40-year high of 9.1% in mid-2022. Consumer prices rose 2.9% in the last 12 months through July, and wages have been growing faster than inflation.
The Threads user did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Our fact-check sources:
C-SPAN, Aug. 15, Former President Trump Holds News Conference at New Jersey Golf Club
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Donald Trump didn't say cereal costs $100 a pound | Fact check
