Fox guest: Social media post from TPUSA spokesman highlighting affordability was pushing a socialist agenda
Fox host: “Let's be honest, the squeeze is real, prices are higher right now”
Published
This week, a viral post from Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet about a college student's concern over the cost of a burrito sparked an online debate on the right about how and whether to discuss affordability.
Citation
From the August 7, 2026, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends
JUSTINE BROOKE MURRAY (GUEST): My wonderful intern, she got me this burrito from Taco Bell, it's under $6, and that's with tax. I know Taco Bell is a sore subject, don't worry I made her eat all the lettuce. I don't believe this burrito brawl is being held in good faith like most social media arguments. This comes with an agenda, and the agenda is honestly, in my opinion, to push socialism. There are no -- they are not trying to ameliorate the problem. You don't hear of any solutions, the problem with mass migration -- nobody wants to talk about that, nobody wants to talk about the problems that even legal immigration brought, or the fact that raising the minimum wage, the minimum wage here in D.C. is $18. That's only shifting the cost, it's not reducing the cost. The problem is the right wants to reduce unaffordability, but they can't do that by starting to sound like the socialists.
GRIFF JENKINS: Yeah but Justine, let's be honest, the squeeze is real, prices are higher right now. And I think what Andrew Kolvet's getting at, is that Republicans have got to find a way to talk about affordability while recognizing that if you do go -- I went to Chipotle's website before this show, and built out my steak burrito, cost me $18 bucks. And you can see here a lot of the prices, groceries are up 33%, restaurants are up 52%. So, what is the solution of tackling the reality that people are paying more and for young people it is a squeeze?
MURRAY: It's to showcase the reality of blue states and blue city policies, and the fact that the so-called Democrat Socialists of America they want us to basically play on their playing field. They want us to blame affordability on these empty slogans like the so-called 1%, or the so-called foreign wars. It's to distract us from actually getting to the point that it's their policies. It's the fact that they want to tax small businesses. You saw a DSA leader goes on Fox News the other day and basically lecture small bodega owners that they just have to deal with being placed out of business because we have got promote those big government grocery stores.
JENKINS: Well I just think that you know, there is going to have to be some meeting in the middle on the fact that people are feeling the $20 burrito and they are speaking out and Republicans are going to have challenge to meet them in the middle of the road to recognize.