Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins defended herself Friday from the onslaught of criticism she's getting for suggesting Americans can eat a healthy meal for $3 consisting of a “piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, corn tortilla and one other thing.”

Rollins made the suggestion in an interview on News Nation this week after the release of the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans. She says the department ran more than 1,000 simulations to come up with the estimate.

The clip on X of Rollins' comment had 9.5 million views as of Friday morning.

Democrats in Congress pounced on the issue with photos of what looked like a sparse meal and said Rollins was “out of touch” with ordinary Americans, as Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., put it on X. Some people online said the math checks out and backed Rollins’ message to eat at home. Others disagreed with Rollins, saying a few ounces of chicken, a tortilla, a bit of broccoli and something else isn’t much of a meal.

Asked about the criticism on Fox Business Friday, Rollins said, “I think the pushback is probably because the left, the Democrats, don't have much more to say other than that.

“But you know, chicken, poultry, vegetables, fruits, when you eat healthy, it actually is less expensive in many ways, depending on what you choose, … than if you buy a fast-food meal or if you eat a bag of Doritos or chips and have an energy drink.”

White House adviser Calley Means also defended Rollins on Friday, posting on X that Democrats "are actively defending government funded soda on SNAP, are nowhere to be found in work to improve school meals, + mocking public health messaging that real food is attainable for $3 (fact check: true)."

His counterattack comes as Republicans are struggling to address the issue of affordability, which is expected to be a major issue in the mid-term elections. 

Reporters for the Wall Street Journal went about trying to verify Rollins’ $3 meal claim and found that her menu “was doable, but not necessarily very filling,”

They wrote, “Parceling out 4 ounces from a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts—chicken loses weight when it is cooked—a cup of store-brand frozen broccoli and a flour tortilla (this store didn’t sell corn ones) came out to $2.61.”

A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, Kendall Witmer, said in a press release Thursday, “Once again, Donald Trump and his administration are proving just how out of touch they are with everyday Americans. As the cost of food, rent, and health care continue to soar, Trump has his attention on running Venezuela, and Brooke Rollins is telling working families to feed their families with a piece of chicken and a piece of broccoli to cut costs.”

"Give me a break," Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said of Rollins' meal suggestion in a post on X that showed him viewing her video clip.

Author Anne Lamott got in on the action, too: "Can I get substitutions, as long as I keep the cost down? Like two spears of the brocolli? And a few corn chips instead of the tortilla?"

A USDA spokesperson said in a statement that “conservatively, there are hundreds of thousands of meal options that will align with the DGA and at no increased cost to American consumers.”

Simulations “all in various forms, not only meet the DGA, but cost the consumer less than $10 per day, or $3 per meal,” which is “less than most, if not any and all, meals consumed outside of the home,” the spokesperson said in an email.

The simulations include the following:

  • Poultry, pork, canned tuna, tilapia, eggs, legumes, nuts, seeds, and tofu
  • Whole milk, cheese, and cottage cheese
  • Beets, celery, tomatoes, frozen broccoli and cauliflower, corn, cucumbers, leafy greens, radishes, cabbage, sweet and white potatoes
  • Frozen blueberries and strawberries, oranges, fresh apples, melons, and canned pears
  • Whole grain bread, corn tortillas, oats, and sourdough bread

Notably, the items don't include beef and mention frozen, not fresh, broccoli.