Democrats are sending more money to Ukraine while America's parents are struggling to feed their children due to a national baby formula shortage, a situation that has turned into a "national disgrace," says former President Donald Trump.
"There is a massive formula shortage, but no one is talking about it — it is a national disgrace. It is unthinkable that in the year 2022 American families are unable to get baby formulas for their children," Trump said in a statement released by his Save America PAC.
"Families whose children have serious allergies and require "elemental" formula are in even more desperate and dire straits. The pain that mothers and fathers are going through who literally cannot get nutrition for their newborns and infants is a mark of eternal shame on the Democrat Party. America First!"
Millions of babies in the U.S. rely on formula, which is the only source of nutrition recommended for infants who aren't exclusively breastfed.
Ongoing supply disruptions have combined with a recent safety recall to leave many pharmacy and supermarket shelves bare.
The problems began last year as the COVID-19 pandemic led to disruptions in labor, transportation and raw materials — economy-wide issues that didn't spare the formula industry. Inventory was further squeezed by parents stockpiling during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Then in February, Abbott Nutrition recalled several major brands of powdered formula and shut down its Sturgis, Michigan, factory when federal officials began investigating four babies who suffered bacterial infections after consuming formula from the facility.
Abbott is one of only a handful of companies that produce the vast majority of the U.S. formula supply, so the recall wiped out a large segment of the market.
Many Republicans have cried foul over the shortage, including Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., who on Thursday said migrant families in McAllen, Texas, are well stocked while Americans are left to fend for themselves.
"They not only have been keeping and stockpiling baby formula for months in anticipation for this surge, but they have a tractor-trailer full at the McAllen facilities," Cammack said during an appearance on Newsmax Friday. "In my own district in Ocala, Florida, you go to the Walmart, the shelves are barren, and this is just another indicator of the Biden administration is putting Americans last."
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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