Ron Klain shares New York Times piece to suggest supply crisis is ‘overhyped narrative’

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White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain denied that there were any supply chain issues disrupting business in a new tweet on Wednesday.

This followed a new piece from the New York Times titled "Why Christmas Gifts Are Arriving on Time This Year." In the article, reporter Niraj Chokshi suggested that any supply chain fears were ultimately unfounded by December.

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White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain in March 2020. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"Despite early fears, however, holiday shoppers have received their gifts mostly on time. Many consumers helped themselves by shopping early and in person. Retailers ordered merchandise ahead of time and acted to head off other bottlenecks. And delivery companies planned well, hired enough people and built enough warehouses to avoid being crushed by a deluge of packages at the last minute, as the Postal Service was last year," Chokshi wrote.

The article was then shared by Klain who added the comment "Merry Christmas to all, and to this over-hyped narrative, a Good Night."

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also shared the New York Times article writing "Take that Scrooge, the Grinch and all of the doubters that this could happen.  Also shelves are stocked at 90% (pre-pandemic levels are 91%)."

She also retweeted a comment reading "I truthfully have had no problems getting anything I have needed for Christmas or in general. I’m waiting for all the republicans to say ‘great job!’" with a reply "hard same!"

White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Dec. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Biden promoted the same idea on Wednesday during a meeting with his Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force. 

"The much-predicted crisis didn't occur," Biden said. "Packages are moving, gifts are being delivered, shelves are not empty."

Various Twitter users criticized these comments as well as the suggestion that the Biden administration averted a supply chain crisis.

Pluribus editor Jeryl Bier tweeted "Notably, there is not a single piece of evidence in this article that the Biden administration's policies had anything to do with this. The article credits consumers, companies, and delivery services for adjusting to meet the expected delays."

Republican communicator Matt Whitlock noted "Talkers are out at the White House this morning. This story doesn’t suggest Biden had anything to do with it, and makes clear problems still persist for a lot of people. But we haven’t seen the WH seize this hard since they were pushing for positive stories on Afghanistan."

Psaki also opened her most recent White House press conference remarking "Good news! We’ve saved Christmas!" referring to the same article.

(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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Despite arguing that supply chain fears did not come to pass, Chokshi also wrote that economic issues are far from over in the Biden administration.

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"That’s not to say the supply chain turmoil is over. About a hundred container ships are waiting off the West Coast to unload their cargo. Big-ticket items, such as new cars, are still hard to find because of a shortage of some critical parts like computer chips. And prices are up for all kinds of goods," Chokshi acknowledged.