Back in September 2020, when the COVID pandemic was in full swing, Biden posted on Twitter a picture of herself cooking. In the photo, the future first lady holds a wooden utensil and appears to be sautéing some leafy greens.
“Hey @Antoni, what are you cooking tonight?” she tweeted at the time, addressing Queer Eye star cook Antoni Porowski.
The photo resurfaced this week after news broke that emissions standards may be set for gas stoves. Other options potentially coming down the pipeline include a ban on the appliances’ import or manufacture. Bloomberg reported that officials are considering the move because of indoor air pollutants’ link to adverse health effects, including childhood asthma.
Nearly 13 percent of current U.S. childhood asthma cases can be traced back to gas stove use, according to a recent study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Speaking with Bloomberg, one official with the Consumer Product Safety Commission called gas stoves a “hidden hazard.”
Regardless, many in the GOP are pushing back against the possible prohibition. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, blasted the idea in a tweet, writing that those considering the decision are “idiots” who apparently “don’t even cook.”
On Tuesday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz retweeted Biden’s September 2020 post, along with the caption: “Rules for thee but not for me.”
Another Texas Republican, Representative Ronny Jackson, similarly railed against the first lady in a tweet on Wednesday morning.
“If gas stoves were really a health hazard, would ‘doctor’ Jill Biden be using one?? I think not,” he wrote, along with the link to an online petition to “save the stoves.”
Biden is referred to by the “Dr.” honorific, having received her doctorate in education from the University of Delaware in 2007. Although he’s now in Congress, Jackson once served as the White House’s top physician.
The gas stove issue has apparently made Jackson a little hot under the collar. In another tweet this week, he wrote that if “the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!”
The Bidens aren’t the only Democrats to face heat over the news.
New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter on Tuesday to claim that gas stove use can be linked to “reduced cognitive performance.” She also directed her followers to a 2020 Vox article that touches on health risks associated with the stoves.
Soon, some Twitter users began to troll the Congress member.
“Dems are literally insane,” tweeted actor Nicholas Tutora.
“Is this an attack on @GordonRamsay,” entrepreneur Max Avery replied.
Newsweek reached out to Jill Biden’s press secretary for comment.
