'What?' Senator stunned as Trump official claims groceries up 'because of the Biden admin'

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told a Senate panel Wednesday that struggling American families can blame Joe Biden for high grocery prices — a claim that left Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) openly incredulous.

"Well, but that's because of the Biden administration," Rollins said flatly during an oversight hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee. "That is the reason."

"Two years later, that's your answer? Because of the Biden administration?" Warnock asked.

"Yes! Yes!" Rollins fired back, rattling off a list of items she said had dropped in price. "Avocado is down 20%, berries down 13%, butter down 13%, eggs down 90%."

"What?" the senator exclaimed. "Grocery costs are up... You don't dispute that. Right? Even as you cite these individual items, you don't dispute that grocery costs are up in America."

"The affordability question in America is real," Rollins conceded, before pivoting to praise the administration's record.

The exchange came as the data paints a grim picture for consumers. A January report from the Joint Economic Committee found that a typical American family paid $310 more for groceries in 2025 — Trump's first year back in office — compared to 2024. Ground beef prices are up 19% and orange juice is up 20% since January 2025, according to NBC News tracking.

Food prices are rising even faster in 2026, with coffee up nearly 35% since the start of last year, according to Kiplinger.

Warnock had earlier pressed Rollins on what he said were the USDA's own projections — that grocery costs rose roughly 3% last year and are expected to climb another 3.2% this year.

"The 3% is actually an average cost of food increase," Rollins said defensively. "Over the years under the last administration, it went up 20%."

Warnock argued back: "Do you realize, Madam Secretary, with all due respect, how sterile that answer sounds to a person who's just trying — somebody's trying to buy groceries in Georgia, and they can't afford it."

The senator also pressed Rollins on the administration's decision to cut $500 million in food bank funding and, by Rollins' own count, remove 4.3 million Americans from SNAP. Rollins insisted no one was "kicked off" the program and called the reduction "a celebration of work and the dignity of work."

"There are a lot of children all across Georgia who are suffering," Warnock replied. "I think we can do better than that."