'Mad Money' Host's Picture of 'Suboptimal' Empty Store Shelves Gets Immediately Debunked

For weeks, conservatives slammed President Joe Biden for global supply chain issues brought about by increased activity in the latest stage of the pandemic and stratospheric demand of goods ahead of the holidays.

Former presidential counsellor Kellyanne Conway falsely claimed there were no supply chain issues under Trump. Conservative talk show hosts like Fox News' Laura Ingraham painted Biden as a grinch who ruined Christmas—weeks before the Christmas season even began.

President Joe Biden's administration took action to combat these issues, such as expanding the Port of Los Angeles' hours to 24/7, securing commitments from top importers to expedite shipping container removal, and signing off on 100 day reviews of vulnerabilities in the supply chain.

In the days before Christmas, the Biden administration celebrated that the long-predicted Christmas crisis was averted, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki claiming retail shelves were 90 percent stocked—just one percent below their pre-pandemic levels. The New York Times also reported that 99 percent of postal deliveries were on time in the holiday season.

Biden said:

"The much-predicted crisis didn't occur. Packages are moving, gifts are being delivered, shelves are not empty."

On Tuesday, Jim Cramer, host of CNBC's Mad Money, tweeted a picture of empty shelves at a Dollar General.

"Suboptimal," he wrote in the caption.

But a closer look at the photo showed a different possibility. While a Christmas ornament hangs above stocked shelves in another aisle, the empty shelves Cramer highlighted are adorned with hearts, signaling the shelves weren't empty due to lack of goods, but because the store was moving from Christmas to Valentine's Day.

People soon pointed this out.

They weren't happy about the misleading content.

Less than a month ago, Cramer hailed the economy as "the strongest economy I've ever seen," so it's unclear what he thought the photo of empty shelves would convey to his 1.7 million followers.