Dan Crenshaw mocked for telling Americans to 'eat ramen' amid cost-of-living complaints
The Texas Republican dismissed concerns over a $20 burrito, sparking backlash from conservatives and others
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
U.S. Congressman Dan Crenshaw says young Americans should adapt to rising prices instead of complaining about them Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons
Photograph: IBTimes UK (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Rep. Dan Crenshaw posted on X telling Americans to 'stop whining, get a job, eat ramen' after a college student said a burrito cost $20.
- The post drew backlash from conservatives and others who said it dismissed real cost-of-living concerns, including a tripling of hamburger meat prices since 2020.
- Crenshaw doubled down with sarcasm, framing the criticism as a choice between 'hard truths' and 'bribing voters'.
- No centre- or right-rated outlets carried the story, according to the reports below.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 9 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
68/100
Craft
95/100
Hype
32/100
9 sources · methodology
Missing from the right
None of the 9 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
A reader who follows the right would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, posted on X telling Americans to 'stop whining, get a job, eat ramen' after a college student said a burrito cost $20. The comment came in response to a post by Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet, who shared the student's remark as an example of rising food prices.
Crenshaw, who lost his Republican primary to Texas state Rep. Steve Toth earlier this year, called the $20 burrito debate 'dumb' and accused those complaining of being 'losers on social media'. He argued that the market does not care what people think something 'should' cost, and that only 'communists' set prices. He ended the post by asking whether critics were 'communists' or 'an American adult male capable of handling his own s***.'
The post drew backlash from conservatives and others. Critics said it dismissed real cost-of-living concerns, including a tripling of the price of 10 pounds of hamburger meat between 2020 and 2026, as reported by IBTimes UK. Some also resurfaced a 2021 post in which Crenshaw mocked the Biden administration over inflation by telling Americans to 'just be vegan and stop complaining'.
Crenshaw responded to the backlash with sarcasm. He wrote that he was 'SORRY for triggering the comment section' and joked that the $20 burrito was proof that 'capitalism has FAILED'. He framed the criticism as a choice between telling voters 'hard truths' or 'bribing them for support in the next election'.
The debate also involved other conservatives. Columnist Marc Thiessen replied to Kolvet by writing, 'Cry me a river. The burritos in the college cafeteria are included in your meal plan.' Vice President JD Vance then mocked Thiessen's appearance, writing, 'I'm surprised to hear Mark say this. If you've ever met him in person, it's quite obvious the man has never missed a burrito.'
What the coverage left out
None of the centre- or right-rated outlets below carried the story, according to the reports printed. The left-rated digests did not mention the tripling of hamburger meat prices or Crenshaw's sarcastic apology, though the full reports from IBTimes UK and HuffPost did.
Coverage settled. We checked this 58 times and stopped on 12 Aug 2026, 18:15. The figures above are what it finished at.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
9 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports led on Crenshaw's dismissive tone and the backlash it provoked. IBTimes UK and HuffPost both quoted his full post, including the phrases 'stop whining, get a job, eat ramen' and 'losers on social media'. IBTimes UK reported that Crenshaw framed the criticism as a choice between 'telling voters hard truths or bribing them for support in the next election'.
- HuffPost described Crenshaw's post as an 'old man shakes fist at cloud' moment and quoted his line about the market not caring what people think something 'should' cost. It also noted that some social media users saw the post as a potential 2026 campaign ad for the Democratic Party. IBTimes UK reported that critics resurfaced Crenshaw's 2021 post mocking the Biden administration over inflation, calling it hypocritical.
- The digests from Mediaite, Raw Story and Joe.My.God. all carried the core facts: Crenshaw's post, the $20 burrito comment, and the backlash. None of the left-rated digests mentioned the tripling of hamburger meat prices or Crenshaw's sarcastic apology, though IBTimes UK and HuffPost did in their full reports.
Centre
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated centre ran this story. We watched the coverage until it stopped changing, and none appeared.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right ran this story. We watched the coverage until it stopped changing, and none appeared.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Dan Crenshaw mocked for telling Americans to 'eat ramen' amid…?
- Of the 9 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 100% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Dan Crenshaw mocked for telling Americans to 'eat ramen' amid… left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 9 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Dan Crenshaw mocked for telling Americans to 'eat ramen' amid… biased?
- Dan Crenshaw mocked for telling Americans to 'eat ramen' amid cost-of-living complaints is one event reported by 9 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Dan Crenshaw mocked for telling Americans to 'eat ramen' amid…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Dan Crenshaw mocked for telling Americans to 'eat ramen' amid…?
- 9 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did Dan Crenshaw say about the $20 burrito?
- Crenshaw posted on X telling Americans to 'stop whining, get a job, eat ramen' after a college student said a burrito cost $20. He called the debate 'dumb' and accused critics of being 'losers on social media'. The post drew backlash from conservatives and others who said it dismissed cost-of-living concerns.
- Why did Crenshaw's post draw backlash?
- Critics said the post ignored rising food prices, including a tripling of the price of 10 pounds of hamburger meat since 2020. Some also called it hypocritical, resurfacing a 2021 post in which Crenshaw mocked the Biden administration over inflation by telling Americans to 'just be vegan and stop complaining'.
- Which outlets reported on Crenshaw's post?
- The story was carried by five left-rated outlets: IBTimes UK, HuffPost, Mediaite, Raw Story and Joe.My.God. No centre- or right-rated outlets carried the story, according to the reports printed below.
Read it at the source
9 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
9- The Right’s New Inflation Message: Let Them Eat Ramen (opens The Nation in a new tab)
The Nation — is The Nation biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- College student complains 'burrito shouldn’t cost $20,' so Texas Republican demands Americans to 'stop whining' and just 'eat ramen' (opens We Got This Covered in a new tab)
We Got This Covered — is We Got This Covered biased? Our profile of this outlet
- GOP Rep Draws Heat Over 'Get a Job, Eat Ramen' Response to Inflation Woes (opens IBTimes UK in a new tab)
IBTimes UK — is IBTimes UK biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Outgoing congressman says to ‘eat ramen’ and stop complaining about rising prices (opens The Independent (US) in a new tab)
The Independent (US) — is The Independent (US) biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Outgoing congressman says to ‘eat ramen’ and stop complaining about rising prices (opens The Independent in a new tab)
The Independent — is The Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
- House Republican Offers Half-Hearted Apology After Telling Americans to ‘Stop Whining’ and ‘Get a Job’ (opens Mediaite in a new tab)
- Republican tells Americans to 'stop whining, get a job, eat Ramen' as cost of living soars (opens Raw Story in a new tab)
- GOP Lawmaker Shrugs Off Affordability Crisis With ‘Eat Ramen’ — And The Backlash Was Swift (opens HuffPost in a new tab)
Centre
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
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