If Kamala Harris hates “price gouging” as much as she says, then why did she make a public spectacle of her buying a bag of Doritos at a convenience store?

On Friday, Vice President Harris denounced so-called ‘price gouging” while outlining her presidential campaign platform, ABC News reports:

“Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday proposed a ban on ‘price gouging’ by food suppliers and grocery stores, as part of a broader agenda aimed at lowering the cost of housing, medicine, and food.”

But, the very next day, she staged a video shoot of her buying a bag of Doritos at a Sheetz convenience store while on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania. The campaign reportedly shot two different versions of her searching for, then being handed, a bag of Doritos.

So, given that convenience stores are infamous for price gouging, why did Harris publicize her patronage of a large, national convenience store chain?

“There are over 400 made-to-order items available at Sheetz, and maybe 5% of them are worth your time,” a food review of the Sheetz chain in The Takeout warns, citing potato chips as an example:

“If you want a crispy, salty snack, you need to head in a different direction. Namely, potato chips.”

What’s more, why did Kamala buy Doritos – a brand singled out and condemned by President Joe Biden for its pricing?

Earlier this year, Biden put out a video that highlighted Doritos as a perpetrator of a deceptive form of price gouging he dubbed “shrinkflation,” in which the price of a bag of chips remains the same price, but the number of chips in the bag is reduced. As Biden calls out companies for shrinkflation in the video, a bag of Doritos is featured prominently in the background Biden.

Harris’ plan to ban price gouging would be enforced by fining those who charge more than what she considers to be fair.

“The proposal calling for a ban on grocery price gouging is a solution in search of a problem,” the National Grocers Association said, reacting to Harris’ plan:

“Our independent grocers, already operating on extremely thin margins, are hurting from the same inflationary pressure points as their customers. Labor, rent, swipe fees, utilities; you name it, the price has increased.”

Food retailer profit margins have been declining in recent years, dropping to just 1.6% in 2023.