Larry Kudlow mocked for claiming Biden will insist on ‘plant-based beer’ amid false attacks on climate policy

Twitter users ridicule host, warning ‘this could be the end of beef-based beer forever’

Larry Kudlow has been ridiculed for an apparent gaffe during a weekend of false claims that Joe Biden is going to force Americans to give up red meat as part of his plan to tackle the climate crisis.

Giving his take on the false allegation, the former White House economic adviser said on his Fox Business show that middle America would be left grilling Brussels sprouts on the fourth of July while they drink “plant-based beer”.

To begin, beer is made from grains, hops, and yeast, all [checks notes] “plant-based”, so it’s unclear why Mr Kudlow thinks middle America would be up outraged by that, or what meat-based beer he serves at his barbecues.

Secondly, there is nothing in the Biden administration’s plans about banning meat or reducing consumption of animal products.

“Speaking of stupid,” said Mr Kudlow, setting himself up. “America has to, get this, America has to stop eating meat, stop eating poultry and fish, seafood, eggs, dairy, and animal-based fats. OK, got that? No burgers on July Fourth. No steaks on the barbie. ... So get ready. You can throw back a plant-based beer with your grilled Brussels sprouts and wave your American flag.”

Twitter users pounced on the astonishing gaffe, sarcastically opining that “most people will be ok with plant-based beer if they just give it a chance”, and that they had “been drinking plant-based beer for years … it’s pretty close to the real thing!”

“This could be the end of beef-based beer forever,” mocked another post.

For clarity, one user posted: “Beer comes from GRAIN, BARLEY, HOPS YOU NUMBNUT.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer got in on the fun tweeting that he was “Excited to be watching the Oscars with an ice-cold plant-based beer. Thanks Joe Biden.”

In the interest of fairness, additives in some beers involve gelatine, which is derived from animals, but the notion that beer is not plant-based is beyond ridiculous.

The false idea that the Biden administration is going to forcefully involve itself in the diets of Americans has been a right-wing talking point on news shows and social media all weekend. A number of politicians also joined the fray, including Trump loyalists Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Madison Cawthorne.

Mr Kudlow and others cite an academic paper published by the researchers at the University of Michigan in 2020 that discusses the impact on greenhouse gas emissions if Americans were to make hypothetical changes to their diets.

The paper does not mention Mr Biden, was published before he won his party’s nomination, and has not been cited by the administration in any of its policy documents relating to climate.

White House rapid response director Mike Gwin responded to a tweet on the matter with a photo of Mr Biden grilling burgers at a campaign event in 2019.

Nobel laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman tweeted: “So this seems to be the latest right-wing attempt to smear Bidenomics. There is, of course, nothing about eliminating meat in Biden’s plans; so this is like the imaginary mobs that burned our cities to the ground.”

He added: “If you read what Kudlow actually said, he’s cagey — doesn’t say that Biden proposed this, only that some people say this is what would happen. But Fox viewers won’t notice, which is the intention.”

A CNN fact-check of the claim showed there is no link between the hypothetical findings of the paper and administration policy.