JEFFERSON CITY — Attorney General Eric Schmitt calls himself a “grill dad,†focuses on inflation and flips a hamburger in his first television ad of the general election season.
“I’m a grill dad who flips a mean burger,†Schmitt says as he approaches a charcoal grill with a spatula. “But thanks to (President Joe) Biden, it now costs an arm and a leg to cook out.â€
Schmitt said the price of ground beef “is up 36%. That’s crazy.â€
The American Farm Bureau Federation in late June saying ground beef prices had jumped 36% compared with last year.
“The overall cost for the (Fourth of July) cookout is up 17% or about $10 from last year, a result of ongoing supply chain disruptions, inflation and the war in Ukraine,†the federation said.
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“Biden’s inflation is taking the sizzle out of our economy,†Schmitt says as he pours water onto the hot charcoal. He said inflation costs “your family over $700 a month,†citing findings on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee.
“In the Senate, I’ll end the wasteful spending and put more money back in your pocket,†Schmitt says as he puts down a platter at a picnic table where his family is sitting.
Schmitt, a Republican who has led in polling, doesn’t mention his Democratic opponent Trudy Busch Valentine in the ad. She released a pair of ads earlier this week attacking Schmitt’s position on abortion and his votes while a state senator to allow foreign ownership of farmland in Missouri.
A Schmitt spokesman responded to the pair of ads by portraying Valentine as an extremist on abortion and saying she supports “extreme job-destroying, energy-price increasing, inflation-creating policies.â€
Valentine responded to Schmitt’s ad on higher food prices on Twitter on Thursday, saying “this is rich coming from Eric Schmitt who gave us a surcharge on pork.â€
Valentine was referencing a settlement this week between consumers and Smithfield Foods over price-fixing allegations.
Schmitt, while in the state Senate, voted for legislation that allowed foreign-owned companies to purchase Missouri farmland.
Smithfield's Hong Kong-based parent company owned 42,000 acres of Missouri farmland in 2015, the Post-Dispatch reported at the time.
A spokesman for Smithfield said the company denied liability in settling the case for $75 million, Reuters reported Tuesday.
“The Chinese company he allowed to buy Missouri farmland just signed a $75 million dollar settlement for allegations of price-fixing on pork,†Valentine said. “That was predictable when he gave Communists control over our farms.â€
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to remove erroneous information on Smithfield’s ownership of Missouri farmland.