MaddowBlog-Republican senator pitches other 'proteins' for Americans who can't afford beef

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Seven years after claims about banning hamburgers and two years after claims about banning cows, Republican rhetoric about beef continues to be weird.

Years after claims about banning hamburgers, and on the heels of Trump claiming in 2024 that Dems would ban cows, Republican rhetoric about beef continues to be weird.

For example, one GOP senator is pitching alternate “proteins” for consumers struggling with high costs. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-25T21:03:41.639Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/republican-senator-pitches-other-proteins-for-americans-who-cant-afford-beef

In recent years, commentary on the topic of beef in Republican politics has gotten a little weird. In 2019, for example, between stints in the White House, conservative commentator Sebastian Gorka publicly insisted that Democrats were determined to ban hamburgers.....

In 2026, Republicans have moved on from such silliness, though the party’s rhetoric about the underlying subject continues to raise eyebrows. The Mississippi Free Press reported:

Americans who can’t afford beef a year into President Donald Trump’s second term ‘have so many proteins to choose from,’ U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican, said in response to a question about steep food costs.

She made the remarks during a Sunday interview with WLOX host Hugh Keeton, who asked her what Republicans are doing to get the cost of living under control, pointing to a key 2024 campaign promise President Donald Trump made when he said he would ‘end inflation on day one.’

During the interview, the GOP senator relied on the usual talking points, but specifically on beef costs, Hyde-Smith appeared to offer some guidance to American consumers who are struggling with costs: “You know, you have so many proteins to choose from.”

Republican senator tells Americans struggling to afford rising beef prices to just eat something else:

"You have so many proteins to choose from."

— FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky.social) 2026-02-24T18:57:37.374146045Z

.....Nevertheless, her “proteins” comments did not go unnoticed by one of her Democratic rivals in this year’s elections.

“Mississippi families aren’t choosing between beef and other proteins as a lifestyle preference, they’re stretching every dollar to put food on the table,” Scott Colom said. “Meanwhile, Cindy Hyde-Smith sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and her answer to Mississippians struggling at the grocery store is to just eat something else?”

“That’s an insult to the people who sent her to D.C. Mississippi deserves a senator who fights for lower costs, not one who tells you your grocery list is your problem,” the local district attorney’s statement said.