Biden, first lady spend Thanksgiving at billionaire's $30m Nantucket home
Biden's host is worth an estimated $4.5 billion
Inflation drives food prices higher as holiday season begins
Stew Leonard's CEO Stew Leonard Jr. discusses the impact of inflation on food prices as the holidays approach.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will spend the Thanksgiving holiday at the Nantucket home of billionaire David Rubenstein.
The president’s security detail touched down on the Massachusetts island earlier this week to prepare for the presidential couple’s arrival Wednesday.
The Rubenstein home at Abram's Point on Nantucket Island. The home is valued at $12 million, with the property valued at $30 million. (Vision Government Solutions)
Military vehicles arrived on the island by Steamship Authority ferry, setting up a corridor for the president’s arrival through the downtown area. State police troopers arrived by ferry shortly after and temporary flight restrictions went into effect for an area of 30 nautical miles around Nantucket Memorial Airport, Nantucket Magazine reported.
Rubenstein co-founded the Carlyle Group and boasts an estimated personal worth of $4.5 billion. He briefly held a government post in the White House under President Jimmy Carter before entering private equity in the 1980s, Forbes reported.
INFLATION IMPACTING CHARITIES, AMERICANS' ABILITY TO DONATE
Rubenstein’s home on Abram’s Point has an estimated value of around $8 million, with a total property value of around $30 million for the roughly 14 acres. The property's amenities include a hot tub and tennis court.
The couple bought the home – named after Abram Quary, a man regularly touted as Nantucket’s "last Indian" – after falling in love with the history and "Native American history" that surrounded the property.
David Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of the Carlyle Group, speaks at the Eighth China Financial Markets Conference in Beijing, China, on Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. The conference, sponsored by the Wall Street Journal, takes place for one day
Fox News reporter Peter Doocy Tuesday asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about the message Biden sends out by spending time at a billionaire’s home during a time of inflation and rising prices.
Psaki noted that a 20-pound turkey will only cost $1 more this year compared to that in 2020, but stressed that Biden is concerned about "any increase in prices." She also said "you are President no matter where you are."
FED'S INFLATION GAUGE HITS ANOTHER 31-YEAR HIGH AS PRICES CONTINUE TO SOAR
But the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported the average wholesale price of an 8- to 16-pound frozen turkey in mid-November increased $1.35 per pound, up 21% from a year ago.
The American Farm Bureau estimates a Thanksgiving feast for 10, complete with sweet potatoes, rolls, a vegetable tray and a pie with whipped cream, will cost $53.31 this year, up 14% from a year ago. Before this year, the annual cost estimate had been falling since 2015.
"The inflation is real. Everybody is saying that. Everybody is feeling it," said Butterball President and CEO Jay Jandrain. "Whether it’s labor, transportation, packaging materials, energy to fuel the plants – everything costs more."
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Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee tweeted out a message highlighting the president’s apparent hypocrisy by saying "Regular America? Enjoy the expensive gas and groceries!"
The Associated Press contributed to this report.