The price of a burrito has sparked a heated online debate and prompted Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) to tell a concerned college student to “eat Ramen.”
The Texas Congressman initially drew criticism for telling Americans who are concerned over high food prices to “stop whining” and “get a job.”
Rep. Crenshaw, who is not up for re-election this fall, was responding to a debate that began after a college student posted about paying $20 for a burrito, arguing the high price is evidence of today’s severe affordability crisis.
“Just hearing about this dumb $20 burrito debate so just thought I’d make the losers on social media angry before going to bed,” Rep. Crenshaw said on X. “Stop whining, get a job, eat Ramen like the rest of us did in college, on a budget with 4 roommates.”
This exchange comes as the cost of living and rising food prices emerge as key issues in campaigns for the 2026 midterm elections, with Republicans and Democrats offering competing explanations and solutions for Americans’ economic frustrations.
Rep. Crenshaw then argued that the economy does not care how much something “should” cost, and that only “communists care” because “they set prices, remember?” — a nod to a recent proposal by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to cut local grocery prices by 30%.
“Are you a communist? Or are you an American adult male capable of handling his own shit?” he asked.
Shortly after weighing in on the now viral “burrito debate,” Rep. Crenshaw issued what at first seemed like an apology.
“I am SORRY for triggering the comment section,” he said on X. “Of course the world is objectively harder than EVER, and while a $20 burrito is rare, the fact that it exists anywhere is obviously proof that capitalism has FAILED.”
Rep. Crenshaw then said he was “just kidding.”
“Remember when the right had principles and made fun of leftists for elevating victimhood as a virtue?” he asked. “Want to tell people the truth? Or just bribe them for their vote in the next election?”
