President Joe Biden has become skilled at ignoring crises, and the nationwide infant formula shortage is no exception.
The national formula shortage affects fewer people than some of Biden’s other problems, such as skyrocketing inflation, record gas prices, and a humanitarian crisis at the open southern border, but its consequences are far direr. In the last couple of weeks, dozens of infants around the country, some with acute medical needs, have been hospitalized due to the shortages. Dehydration, nutrition issues, and even adverse reactions to homemade formula are plaguing babies whose parents can’t find the specific powder required for their survival.
Panic about a lack of baby formula began months ago as parents struggled to find the products. Thanks to government-mandated lockdowns, supply-chain interruptions abounded, and Biden’s Food and Drug Administration’s shutdown of one of the country’s largest infant formula plants only made things worse. By the beginning of May, the national out-of-stock rate for formula was 43 percent. In some states such as Tennessee and Texas, that rate rose above 50 percent by mid-May.
Parents across the nation panicked, but the White House stayed largely silent on the issue. When the Biden administration finally spoke up, they blamed the problem on retailers, stockers, and alleged baby formula hoarders.
Instead of making it easier for parents to get their hands on formula from overseas, Biden’s team advised parents via the White House’s Instagram page to “use a different brand of formula” and “call your OB/GYN or pediatrician” to request supplements.
When people discovered that the Biden administration was using taxpayer dollars to buy and ship formula to illegal immigrants detained at the southern border while stonewalling the needy Americans he was elected to serve, the corporate media, White House, and Department of Homeland Security deflected.
“There’s no indication the national baby formula shortage is connected to the distribution of formula to migrant babies in U.S. border custody,” CBS News tweeted on Wednesday.
The Biden administration eventually tried to soothe Americans’ formula panic by invoking the Defense Production Act, striking a reopening deal with the formula plant that had been shut down and flying in the product from Europe. But not even Biden’s import of 70,000 pounds of infant food — as opposed to the “70,000 tons” he claimed on Twitter — could distract from the fact that this FDA-exacerbated catastrophe isn’t going away anytime soon.
The White House keeps promising that “more infant formula is on the way” since the newest supply will only last a couple of days, but how can Americans trust that? After all, this is the same administration that claims the southern border is secure, inflation is temporary, the supply-chain crisis is over, the Afghanistan withdrawal was a success, and exorbitant gas prices are Vladimir Putin’s fault.
Since Biden assumed office, the United States has plunged into domestic, economic, and foreign policy crises. In every instance, the Biden administration has had the capacity to initiate solutions that will serve the American people well. And in every instance, it has denied the problems, played the blame game, and straight-up lied to Americans.
