The FDA confirmed Sunday that a Taylor Farms lettuce sample it previously said tested positive for the cyclospora parasite "should be considered a false positive." Zero product samples have actually tested positive. The contaminated shredded iceberg lettuce that sickened 1,645 people across 34 states came from Taylor Farms de Mexico in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Democrats, naturally, blamed Donald Trump.
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington posted a video Saturday claiming this was the "worst outbreak in U.S. history" caused by the president "taking a wrecking ball" to "our public health infrastructure." The lettuce came from Mexico. The FDA traced it to a Mexican supplier. The recall covers products shipped to 27 states. But sure — Trump did it.
Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat running for Senate in the Michigan primary, wasn't far behind. He blamed the CDC and FDA for what he called an "abnormally shitty couple of months" in the state — Michigan reported the largest number of confirmed illnesses in the outbreak. El-Sayed managed to turn a food safety issue originating south of the border into a campaign ad against the administration.
Here's what actually happened, Taylor Farms de Mexico voluntarily recalled 25 shredded lettuce and salad mix products on July 17. The iceberg lettuce was distributed to 27 states with "best by" dates through August 3. The FDA's traceback investigation identified convergence on a single supplier — Taylor Farms de Mexico — that provided shredded iceberg lettuce to Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia where customers got sick. The parasite, cyclospora, spreads through feces-contaminated food or water, most commonly on fresh produce washed in contaminated water. Multiple federal lawsuits have been filed against Taco Bell.
So we have 1,645 confirmed infections. We have 141 hospitalizations. We have no deaths, thankfully. And we have a supply chain that runs straight from Guanajuato to your Crunchwrap Supreme.
The FDA's own walkback makes the Democratic talking points even harder to defend. The agency announced a positive test result, then reversed itself Sunday, saying it "should be considered a false positive" and that "FDA and state partners continue to collect and analyze product samples" — none of which have tested positive. So the one piece of domestic lab evidence that could have supported a narrative about American regulatory failure evaporated within 24 hours.
Murray's video didn't mention Mexico. It didn't mention Taylor Farms de Mexico. It didn't mention that the contamination originated in a foreign supply chain that no amount of domestic "public health infrastructure" would have caught at the production stage. She framed it as a Trump-created crisis.
This is the same pattern we've watched for years. Something goes wrong. Democrats skip past the actual cause — in this case, a Mexican agricultural supplier with a parasite problem — and land on Trump. He's responsible for hurricanes, inflation, bird flu, and now your intestinal distress after a late-night Taco Bell run.
The man lives so rent-free in their heads that when 1,645 Americans get sick from Mexican lettuce processed in Guanajuato, the first instinct isn't to ask questions about foreign food safety standards or import inspection protocols. It's to cut a campaign video blaming the president.
Mexico grew the lettuce. Mexico washed it. Mexico shipped it. The FDA caught it and issued recalls across 27 states.
But if you had explosive diarrhea last week, that was apparently the 47th president's fault too.
