Earlier this week, Donald Trump left America puzzled when he made the most ridiculous statement about buying groceries at a rally in Tampa, Florida. The statement left even the most loyal Trump fans confused, and proved that the president has obviously never done his own shopping. The president said:
You know, if you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card. You need ID.”
The internet has been ablaze with jokes ever since that moment, and memes about Trump’s grocery ID card have been going viral since. But while most of us took this as yet another sign that the president lives in his own alternate reality, one woman — Irina Anderson — is coming forward with information that might explain where Trump got that idea. And she said it’s from Russia.
Anderson currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota but she’s originally from Saint Petersburg, Russia. According to Hill Reporter, Anderson stated that in the early 1990s, the Russian government made residents use grocery ID cards to purchase certain items after the Soviet Union collapsed. Anderson said that because items were so limited, “necessities… soap, groceries, [and] toilet paper” could only be bought with a grocery ID card. She said:
Cash was useless [by itself], but cash plus a shopper ID [would] get you stuff. By presenting it I was given [a] monthly allotment of grains, sugar, flour, vodka etc. No ID = no groceries. Now you know where Trump gets his ideas…”
Anderson also stated that vouchers were also needed to purchase certain items, and citizens were only given one voucher for some items. Other items, like soap, only had vouchers every other month.
This sounds like it could really explain where Trump got his weird grocery ID card idea from. The disturbing part is that once again, Trump proves to be highly connected and influenced by Russia. He seems way more tuned in there than he is with his own country!
Featured image via Irina Anderson
