What is ‘Plant-Based Beer’ and Why are Larry Kudlow and Chuck Schumer Talking About It?
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Reasonable people know when to take breaks from both the Internet and the political media ecosystem, and seeing as it was a lovely mid-Spring weekend in most of the nation, many might be logging back on to Twitter and curious why “plant-based beer” is suddenly a thing. Surely, all beer is plant-based, yeah? Well, here is the quick explainer for you, dear reader, so you don’t embarrass yourself at the virtual water cooler as the day proceeds.
The whole weird debate started after Fox Business host Larry Kudlow opened his Friday afternoon show erroneously mocking President Joe Biden for limiting meat consumption (he is not). On the day that followed Earth Day, Trumps’ former top economic advisor focused on a portion of a conceptual idea of the Green New Deal that sets as a goal the limit of meat consumption to lower methane gas caused by cows. The key bit from the segment (emphasis ours):
Speaking of stupid, there’s a study coming out of the University of Michigan which says that to meet the Biden Green New Deal targets, 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 burger on July 4. No steaks on the barbecue. I’m sure Middle America is just going to love that. Can you grill those Brussels sprouts? So get ready. You can throw back a plant-based beer with your grilled Brussels sprouts and wave your American flag. Call it July 4th Green.
Kudlow, of course, hyperbolically suggested that Biden was already institution a meat-consumption mandate because, well, that’s how he does things. He continued by admitting it was all a joke, saying, “Now, I’m making fun of this because I intend to make fun of it. This kind of thing is stupid. It comes from a bunch of ideological zealots who don’t care one whit about America’s well-being. Not one whit.” You can watch the segment below via Fox Business:
Though he was clearly joking, there is no such thing as “meat-based beer,” and because Twitter likes to point and laugh at things that are worthy of pointing and laughing at, the notion of a “plant-based beer” drew derision from those who missed the context or the intended joke. Perhaps the most notable individual to make that joke was Brooklyn-based Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who tweeted the following:
Other than the curiously close distance that Schumer sits near his television set, the “plant-based beer” reference was a hilarious joke for everyone who watched Kudlow’s Friday afternoon opener or saw it referenced online. Unfortunately for Schumer, the number of people who missed his intended mockery far outpaced those who got the reference, and so it was Schumer who found derision for what he surely saw as a clean and easy joke.
To sum up: President Joe Biden hasn’t instituted a limit on meat consumption. All beer is made from plants. Hyperbolic political analysis is often taken at face value. Mocking something that was intended as mockery can sometimes blow up in one’s face.
