Chuck Schumer aims to mock Larry Kudlow with 'plant-based beer' Oscars tweet, confuses everybody

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants everyone to know he watched the Oscars, with alcohol in hand, like a normal person. The photo he posted on social media, did not, however, reflect how most people watch the Academy Awards — in a hardback chair, about 18 inches from the screen — and unless you spent a lovely spring weekend obsessing about politics (which, to be fair, would include many people on Twitter), you probably have no idea what he meant by "plant-based beer."

Yes, beer is plant-based — typically, malted grain, hops, yeast, water, and whatever other plant-based (non-meat, usually) ingredients a brewer dreams up to add. But Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, former President Donald Trump's former White House economic adviser, used the phrase on his show Friday, when trying to paint President Biden's proposed emissions cut as the ultimate July 4th spoiler.

As CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale points out, Biden has not proposed any modification to the American diet, and the University of Michigan researchers who published the study linking less meat consumption with lower carbon emissions are reportedly just as confused about how this happened as everyone else.

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So, that's what the "plant-based beer" comment was about. Schumer's TV viewing posture remains an enduring mystery.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.