Misleading Inflation Comparison Graphic Circulates Online

In September 2026 a Facebook graphic was shared widely, including on the Denton County Republican Party page in Texas, claiming that prices for a set of household goods and utilities rose more during President Joe Biden’s administration than during former President Donald Trump’s second term. The graphic compared Biden’s full 48-month tenure (January 2021 – January 2025) with only the first 20 months of Trump’s second term (January 2025 – August 2026). Snopes examined the claim and concluded the graphic’s figures were false or fabricated and that the comparison was unfair because the time periods differed in length.

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Biden’s presidency began amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a period that saw the highest U.S. inflation in two decades. The graphic’s timing coincided with ongoing public debate over post-pandemic price pressures. The post’s origin was unclear; Snopes contacted the Denton County Republican Party for source information but received no reply. Artificial-intelligence detection tools flagged both versions of the graphic as fully AI-generated, though the reliability of such tools is not absolute.

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) tracks price changes for urban households, covering roughly 90 % of the U.S. population. Snopes located index series for 12 of the 13 items shown in the graphic; the BLS does not publish a CPI-U series for “natural gas,” indicating the graphic’s data could not have come from the cited source. Using seasonally adjusted CPI-U data, Snipes found that for those 12 items, price increases were slower during Trump’s 20-month period than during Biden’s 48-month span. Moreover, the official data showed inflation fell for four of the listed products, contrary to the graphic’s claim that only one product experienced a price decline.

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Snopes reported that the BLS emphasizes the need for equal-length comparison periods when using the CPI, noting that direct comparisons across mismatched time frames distort inflation trends. The fact-check also highlighted that the graphic’s methodology omitted seasonally adjusted adjustments for most items, further compromising accuracy. Brookings Institution analysis (June 2023) attributed most of the 2021-2022 inflation surge to global commodity price spikes and pandemic-related supply-chain disruptions, while MIT Sloan researchers (July 2024) estimated that 42 % of 2022 inflation could be linked to government spending.

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