The Biden administration has been working against American farmers' interests for the past four years, and the proposals Vice President Kamala Harris is making to regulate grocery prices will lead to even more lost profits and nationwide food shortages, Sen. Roger Marshall told Newsmax on Thursday.
"What's caused the prices to go up are her policies that attack American energy," the Kansas Republican told Newsmax's 'Wake Up America." "Energy is an inflation multiplier."
For example, Marshall said, "Look at a loaf of bread."
"When I was growing up working on the farm, there was 10 cents worth of wheat in a loaf of bread. Today, there's 10 cents worth of wheat in a loaf of bread," he said. "What's driven up the cost is getting that loaf of bread or getting the wheat to the flour mill, to the grocery store."
He further warned that under Harris' proposals, "there will be shortages" including beef, poultry, and milk.
"What will happen is American farmers and ranchers will stop growing wheat," he said. "They'll stop growing beef, if we can't get a fair price for it as well."
Farmers are also having to borrow more money, which is leading to higher interest rates and adds to driving up grocery costs, said Marshall.
Harris and President Joe Biden staged an "attack on American agriculture" that resulted in a record drop in net farm income, the senator said.
"They drowned us," he commented. "They buried us in regulations. They drove up the cost for farming through energy costs. We had increased costs for diesel fuel, for nitrogen-based fertilizers, and again, just that regulatory environment and high interest rates."
But when Donald Trump was president, farmers had access to markets, and he rolled back regulations, said Marshall.
"Guess how many trade agreements Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did? None," he said. "President Trump gave us USMCA. He gave us South Korea. He gave us Japan."
In addition, farmers saw increases from $6 billion to $9 billion in exports of dairy products while Harris and Biden "didn't even try to do a trade agreement," said Marshall.
Trump also gave farmers legislation that allowed about 40% of their corn crop to go toward ethanol, said Marshall, adding to the policies that made him a "great supporter for rural America."
The United States is now importing more than it exports in agricultural products, said Marshall.
"The Biden-Harris administration allows Europe and China to have high tariffs, an average of 10% to 25% on American agricultural products, not to mention automobiles," he added. "We only put 2.5% tariffs on them."
Tariffs can be used to level that playing field, which would bring free and fair reciprocal trade, said Marshall.
"That's what President Trump has done in the past and he'll do it in the future," he said. "He'll bring it home for American farmers."
Marshall said he's been on the campaign trail in seven or eight states in recent weeks and said he feels good about Republicans' chances of taking the White House and Senate.
"I think when the history books are written here in five or 10 years, there's going to be two iconic photos, one, of President Trump working at a McDonald's and two, of President Trump driving a garbage truck," said Marshall. "When the Biden-Harris administration came out and called us garbage, that was akin to Hillary Clinton's deplorables moment, and I just think that started moving the needle."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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