Texas Representative Ted Cruz posted on the social media platform X in response to a post featuring New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani explaining the city’s upcoming city-run, tax-funded grocery stores. While the post was intended as a jab at the mayor, users took it as an opportunity to criticize Texas on similar issues.
Many commenters agreed that Zohran Mamdani shouldn’t be opening stores with prices up to 30% less than the average grocery store. However, a large majority also criticized the current state of grocery shelves in Texas, as well as the state of food as a whole.
The image above was posted by Representative Ted Cruz in response to a post by a profile named End Wokeness that reads, “Mayor Mamdani just announced that he will be opening 5 city-run, tax-funded grocery stores:”Prices set at 30% below retail prices.”
The image used is from September 1989, when Boris Yeltsin, who was a Soviet official back then, visited Randall’s supermarket in Houston, Texas. During the visit, he was apparently shocked by the abundance of goods at the store in comparison to the shortages common in the Soviet Union.
Representative Cruz captioned the image with, “Mamdani seeing a Texas grocery store in 5 years.” The post essentially compares Mamdani’s government-run grocery stores to the issues the Soviet Union was having before its dissolution.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan for the city does expect to sell core grocery goods at 30% below retail cost, keeping prices set for the duration of the month. However, this has drawn criticism for various reasons, including the potential for local stores to purchase those goods and upsell them at their own locations.
Comments and Reactions to Texas Representative Ted Cruz’s Post
Various commenters immediately focused on grocery stores in Texas, with many harshly judging their stock. One person wrote, “Are your meat aisles stocked with beef from Argentina yet? Y’all can thank Trump for that. Rather then address the problems ranchers are having in Texas, he’d rather beef come from somewhere else to help keep it cheap.”
Others pointed fingers at Representative Cruz’s response to the Save America Act, with one person writing, “OMG Ted! Are you kidding me? Posting this stupid stuff when you could be talking/supporting @BasedMikeLee and getting the Save America Act passed! I can’t believe I voted for you and you call yourself a Texan. Way to deflect traitor.“
The post is continuing to make rounds on X, with more people leaving their frustration and opinions in the comments below.
