Shoppers frustrated by national product shortages took to social media Thursday to lay the blame squarely at the feet of President Joe Biden, taunting him with the hashtag #EmptyShelvesJoe across social media.
Twitter users chose empty shelves at stores around the country to illustrate their anger as the nation’s supply chain crisis continued and the outlook towards Christmas looked increasingly grim.
Biden on Wednesday acknowledged the concerns, posing the question: “With the holidays coming up, you might be wondering if gifts you plan to buy will arrive on time?”
Shoppers answered for themselves in the most brutal way possible.
“Just went food shopping…again…thanks #EmptyShelvesJoe I really love having to go every day now in order to find what used to take one trip,” one account wrote, along with a photo of near-vacant shelves at a grocery store.
“I’m pretty sure @JoeBiden and the Democrats in DC are eating just fine and are having no issues getting what they need,” another Twitter user posted. “The rest of us lowly Americans who actually go to the grocery stores, not so much. #EmptyShelvesJoe.”
The rush then turned into a torrent.
As Breitbart News reported, empty shelves across America are a product of logistics jams at the nation’s ports.
Such is the delay, mega-chains in the United States such as Walmart, Home Depot, Costco, and Target have reportedly chartered their own ways to transport some goods stuck on cargo ships waiting to dock.
Ed Desmond, executive vice president of the Toy Association, said last week parents should be going out now to buy Christmas gifts for their children while there are plenty of supplies instead of waiting till the last moment.
“Get out and buy toys now. If you see toys you think the kids are going to want for Christmas, pick them up now and tuck them away to make sure you have them,” Desmond warned.
Near empty shelves are seen at Mary Arnold Toys, New York city oldest toy store on August 2, 2021, as the current U.S. supply chain crisis began picking up speed (KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)
Jay Foreman, the CEO of Basic Plus! toys claimed he has eight million dollars worth of goods sitting in a warehouse but cast doubt over the toys being able to hit the shelves in time for the holidays.
“I got Tonka trucks in the south and Care Bears in the north. We’ll blow last year’s numbers away, but the problem is we don’t know if we’ll get the last four months of the year shipped.”
Foreman told Bloomberg, “The supply chain is a disaster, and it’s only getting worse.”