In the midterm elections, meat is on the menu.
As Democrats and Republicans argue over high prices and the Iran war, they're also having a food fight over who's the most red-blooded carnivore.
The latest example came this week in Mississippi, where Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom released a video with a snippet of Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith saying that if consumers are upset over high beef prices, “you know you have so many proteins to choose from.”
The video cuts to a man grilling burgers who says, “Pick another protein? I'd rather pick another senator instead.”
The Mississippi race is somewhat unusual because it's the Democrat hammering the Republican over beef. Elsewhere, Republicans have branded Democrats as vegans or otherwise opposed to meat, trying to show that they're culturally out of step with voters, hostile to local cattle industries or just not manly enough.
In Texas, Republicans seized on an old interview in which Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico boasted that his campaign, then for the Texas statehouse, was going vegan. Talarico has since been publicly scarfing down barbecue to rebut allegations that his dietary choices mean he's not a real Texan.
In Colorado, Republicans have gone after Democratic congressional candidate Manny Rutinel for his activism against meat production and factory farming. In college, he was photographed shirtless with a banner for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals around his chest. In 2021, Rutinel founded Climate Refarm, which advocated for cutting down on the use of meat and has signed onto letters advocating for raising taxes on meat and dairy. He also supported a 2024 ballot measure to ban a lamb slaughterhouse in Denver, which failed.
Rutinel, 31, is now running against Republican Rep. Gabe Evans in Colorado's 8th district, which includes a vast swath of the northeastern part of the state dotted with ranches, dairy farms and meat processing facilities, including the headquarters of beef production titan JBS Swift. Republicans have hammered Rutinel over advocating veganism, to the point that the conservative media group Daily Wire this week released an undercover video of a campaign official saying Rutinel eats meat “as little as possible.”
Rutinel, who's made a point of publicly eating steak tacos on the campaign trail, scoffed at such arguments. “I don't think Coloradans care about what's on my plate, I think they care more about what's on theirs,” Rutinel said in an interview after a recent campaign stop.
Evans said the issue goes beyond Rutinel's meal preferences. “I don't care what he eats personally,” Evans said in an interview. “I care that he wants to use the power of the government to make everyone eat that way.”
Republicans have gone after two other Democratic House candidates on meat — hammering Lindsay James in Iowa's 2nd district, an area filled with hog farms, for supporting “meatless May” in a 2020 Facebook post, and Amish Shah in Arizona's 1st district for his longstanding vegetarianism and animal rights activism.
Also in Iowa, Republican Senate candidate and current Rep. Ashley Hinson slammed her opponent, state lawmaker Josh Turek, for opposing a bill banning lab-grown meat from being sold in the state. “He’d rather have meat that comes from a lab than from our family farms,” she said at a campaign appearance.
Democrats have hammered on meat as well, but mainly just as one of the staples that cost more under Trump, squeezing voters' pocketbooks. Trump has tried to lower prices by opening U.S. markets to beef imports, especially from Argentina, which is governed by a close Trump ally.
However, those moves have angered U.S. producers as prices have remained stubbornly high, creating a potential weakness in Republican-leaning states where Democrats hope to gain ground this year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average pound of ground beef cost $6.79 last month, up from $5.55 in January of 2025, when Trump returned to office.
That was the dynamic that Hyde-Smith, a cattle rancher and former state agriculture commissioner, was addressing in her interview that was clipped in Colom's video. The prosecutor — who also delivers the “pick another senator” line in the spot — is running a longshot challenge in Mississippi.
A spokesman for Hyde-Smith's campaign argued that the Democrats deserve blame for high prices. “It is Scott Colom who supports Biden-era policies that drove up inflation,” said Nathan Calvert.
Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.
A shopper looks at meat in a grocery store in Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
FILE - Steaks and other beef products are displayed for sale at a grocery store in McLean, Va., Jan. 18, 2010. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 15, 2026--
Tourism Malaysia and Alipay+, the unified wallet gateway of Ant International, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to accelerate cross-border commerce and digitalise merchant engagement across Malaysia's tourism economy.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261014035900/en/
As Malaysia welcomes visitors for Visit Malaysia 2026–2027 (VM2026–2027), this partnership merges Tourism Malaysia’s destination marketing with Alipay+’s global wallet ecosystem and AI capabilities. It aims to create a highly intelligent digital journey, connecting international travellers directly with local operators as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), strategically distributing visitor spending beyond major hubs to support the broader economic goals of VM2026–2027.
Mr. Mohd Amirul Rizal Abdul Rahim, Director General of Tourism Malaysia, said: “Digital technologies continue to reshape the way people plan and experience travel, and Tourism Malaysia remains committed to embracing innovative solutions that enhance visitor convenience and engagement. This initiative makes it easier for travellers to discover Malaysia and access tourism-related benefits through a seamless digital journey, supporting our broader efforts under VM2026–2027 to strengthen Malaysia's competitiveness as a smart tourism destination. By leveraging digital platforms with extensive international reach, we can engage travellers more effectively while showcasing Malaysia's diverse tourism experiences to a wider global audience.”
The MoU builds on Alipay+'s significant momentum within Malaysia's digital commerce ecosystem. In the first half of 2026, over 600,000 merchants, primarily SMEs, received payments from Alipay+ partner wallets and bank apps, marking a year-on-year increase of over 70%. Furthermore, traveller spending via DuitNow surged by more than 60%, establishing Alipay+ as the largest contributor to inbound QR transactions nationwide. Currently, Alipay+ connects over 2 billion user accounts with 150 million merchants across 210 destinations, and operating through major national schemes like PayNet.
Mr. Michael Guo, Alipay+ General Manager for Southeast Asia, South Asia and ANZ, Ant International, added: “Cross-border commerce is evolving beyond the moment of payment. AI can now connect a traveller's intent with the right destination, business and offer. Through our collaboration with Tourism Malaysia, we are helping local businesses not only accept international payments, but also to actively engage global customers, creating more opportunities for Malaysian businesses, particularly SMEs, to participate in the growth of cross-border travel and commerce.”
A core component of the collaboration is Alipay+ Voyager, an AI travel agent embedded within travellers' digital wallets. Alipay+ Voyager will surface Tourism Malaysia-verified cultural, culinary, and experiential offerings tailored to individual interests, creating a new digital channel to reach international customers at the moment of discovery. To further incentivise exploration, Tourism Malaysia will also launch an exclusive AI-powered travel subsidy programme, allowing visitors to converse directly with the digital agent to unlock benefits for accommodation, transportation, and attractions. Alipay+ Voyager also simplifies the day-to-day experience – for example, visitors can access local ride-hailing services directly via their embedded AI agent, without having to download additional apps, and also get triple protection covering timeout, no-shows, and long waits.
Tangible Benefits for Malaysian Businesses
As part of the MoU, Malaysian merchants, big and small, all across the country will benefit from the growing number of visitors for VM2026-2027:
Through these initiatives, Tourism Malaysia reinforces its commitment to cultivating a connected, inclusive digital commerce ecosystem that benefits both the national economy and the everyday traveller, beyond the Visit Malaysia 2026–2027 campaign.
About Tourism Malaysia
Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, also known as Tourism Malaysia, is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC). It focuses on promoting Malaysia as a preferred tourism destination and has, since its establishment, played a significant role in strengthening the country’s presence and competitiveness in the global tourism landscape.
Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) underscores Malaysia’s commitment to sustainable tourism development, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). The campaign aims to showcase the nation’s diverse natural attractions, rich cultural heritage, and vibrant tourism offerings, while driving inclusive growth and long-term value for local communities and industry stakeholders.
For more information, visit Tourism Malaysia’s website www.tourism.gov.my and social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and TikTok.
About Alipay+
Ant International's Alipay+ is a unified wallet gateway with cross-border payment and digitisation services that help connect global merchants to consumers. Consumers enjoy seamless payment, a broad choice of deals and the convenience of digital services using their preferred payment app while travelling abroad. Small and medium-sized businesses may use Alipay+ digital tools to enhance efficiency and achieve omni-channel growth.
(From left) Mr Mohd Akbal Setia (Head of VM2026 Secretariat and Senior Director, Advertising & Digital Tourism); Mr Mohd Amirul Rizal Abdul Rahim (Director General, Tourism Malaysia); Mr Danny Chung (General Manager of Alipay+ Global Growth Center and Vice President of Ant International); Mr Michael Guo, Alipay+ General Manager of SEA, South Asia and ANZ, Ant International)
