GOP Candidate Urges Americans To Be More Patriotic Buy Skipping Starbucks As Gas Prices Climb

A former NFL sideline reporter running for the U.S. Senate advised Americans to skip a Starbucks trip while gas prices continue to climb.

The Republican candidate for Minnesota’s Senate seat, Michele Tafoya, gave the advice on “The Todd Starnes Show” Wednesday after the host asked Tafoya if she would discuss the “big issues on the minds of” her constituents.

“We’ve all been told that the word affordability is key,” Tafoya said, adding that the U.S. had enjoyed gas prices that were at a five-year low, but now the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran is bringing gas prices up again. (RELATED: Democrats’ Nightmare Unfolding As Republicans Poised To Crush One-Party Control In Blue State Race)

Oh my god.

On the radio, NRSC-endorsed Michele Tafoya says that gas prices are spiking because of the Iran war that she supports and that people should “take one less trip to Starbuck’s” and to “just try to be patriots” about it.#mnsen pic.twitter.com/GOvkgZTqV7

— danny (@dabbs346) March 19, 2026

“I know it’s frustrating, and I know it’s hard for people,” she continued. She said there is more that Americans can do to get behind the service members who died or put their lives on the line in the region.

Tafoya suggested they can do this by “keeping a stiff upper lip” and potentially not go to Starbucks as often.

“Maybe you take one less trip to Starbucks, and so that gas goes a little further until this thing is over and these gas prices come back down again,” she said.

This week, diesel prices have crossed a national retail average of $5 a gallon as Iran blocks oil from leaving the Strait of Hormuz.

Tafoya compared the Starbucks sacrifice to how Americans supported the troops during past wars, including World War Two, by collecting and recycling metal.

“Let’s just try to be patriots about this,” Tafoya said. “Whether you agree with it or not, we’re there, and we’ve got to support our men and women in uniform.”

She entered the Senate race in January.

Tafoya quickly received the backing of the Senate Republicans’ campaign finance arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), in her mission to seize Democratic Sen. Tina Smith’s open Minnesota seat.

However, some Republicans have criticized Tafoya, who has been highly critical of President Donald Trump in the past.

One GOP activist previously told the Daily Caller that she flip-flopped on her views and will probably “be like every other politician.”

Michele Tafoya’s campaign team did not respond to the Caller’s request for comment as of publication.