Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw has found himself at the centre of a social media storm after belittling voters’ concerns about the affordability crisis.

Crenshaw, who was primaried for his seat and lost to GOP state Rep. Steve Toth in March, weighed in on a debate on X about soaring grocery prices after Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvert said he had recently been told by a college student: “A burrito shouldn’t cost $20.”

“A lot of this is a hangover from Covid and Biden-era inflation, but the lived experience is the same: It just feels like basic things cost too much,” Kolvert observed.

The outgoing congressman and former Navy SEAL said: “Just hearing about this dumb $20 burrito debate so just thought I’d make the losers on social media angry before going to bed.

“Stop whining, get a job, eat Ramen like the rest of us did in college, on a budget with 4 roommates.

“The market doesn’t care what you think something ‘should’ cost. Only communists care (they set prices remember? Then everyone starves, remember?) Are you a communist? Or are you an American adult male capable of handling his own s***?”

The “ragebait” response provoked a storm of anger and derision, notably from Crenshaw’s fellow conservatives, with one characteristic comment pointing out that the price of 10lbs of hamburger meat had tripled between 2020 and 2026.

Several people pointed to the Republican’s own contradictory past output on the same subject, including one tweet from September 2021 in which he had written: “America: our food prices are too high what are you doing about inflation? Biden admin: just be vegan and stop complaining you bunch of rubes.”

Forced into a climbdown, Crenshaw said: “Okay, I am SORRY for triggering the comment section. Of course the world is objectively harder than EVER, and while a $20 burrito is rare, the fact that it exists anywhere is obviously proof that capitalism has FAILED.

“lol no just kidding. Remember when the right had principles and made fun of leftists for elevating victimhood as a virtue? Want to tell people the truth? Or just bribe them for their vote in the next election?”

He was not the only conservative to get caught up in the storm.

Right-leaning columnist Marc Thiessen responded equally unsympathetically to Kolvert, writing: “Cry me a river. The burritos in the college cafeteria are included in your meal plan.”

That drew a response from Vice President JD Vance, who, rather than offering anything more constructive, replied by fat-shaming Thiessen: “I’m surprised to hear Mark [sic] say this. If you’ve ever met him in person, it’s quite obvious the man has never missed a burrito.”

Vance in turn was hit with a series of unflattering photographs of himself as a portly, beardless younger man, as well as an AI image in which he was portrayed devouring a corndog.

Voters have consistently told pollsters they believe the Trump administration – which Vance aspires to inherit – is not doing enough to address the inflated cost of living, which threatens to cause major problems for Republican candidates come November’s midterms.