Joe Biden was being taunted on Thursday with the hashtag 'Empty Shelves Joe', as frustrated shoppers complained about shortages of products in their local stores, and concern grew about possible Christmas shortages.
Biden on Wednesday acknowledged the concerns.
'With the holidays coming up, you might be wondering if gifts you plan to buy will arrive on time?
'I know you’re hearing a lot about something called supply chains and how hard it is to get a range of things from a toaster to sneakers to bicycles to bedroom furniture.'
He called new agreements with ports, unions, and shippers 'a sign of major progress in moving goods from manufacturers to a store and to your front door.'
Earlier on Wednesday, Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, had sparked alarm by saying: 'We are not the postal service or UPS or FedEx. We cannot guarantee.
'What we can do is use every lever at the federal government's disposal to reduce delays, to ensure that we are addressing bottlenecks in the system, including ports and the need for them to be open longer hours.'
The shortages are due to issues in the global supply chain, but Biden's critics have accused him of mismanagement.
The port of Los Angeles, North America's busiest container terminal, began 24-hour operations on Thursday after the White House intervened to help ease bottlenecks that are choking commerce and pushing up prices.
But until the bottlenecks in the supply chain are removed, the complaints about shortages will mount.
Jack Posobiec, an alt-right activist and commentator, noted that 'EmptyShelvesJoe' was the number one trending topic on Twitter.
Donald Trump Jr commented: 'Yikes!'
President Joe Biden announced new efforts to ease supply chain roadblocks and spoke about concerns of anxious holiday shoppers
Country music singer John Rich tweeted: 'Hard to mess up a country any faster than #EmptyShelvesJoe but I have to say, he's brought unity to much of the country by way of getting the majority of Americans to give the big thumbs down and chant #LetsGoBrandon from coast to coast...In that respect, Joe is a unifier.'
The 'Lets Go Brandon' chant has in the past two weeks become a rallying call for opponents of the president, starting after a TV presenter misheard a Nascar crowd on October 2 yelling: 'F*** Joe Biden' - and told her viewers they were chanting: 'Let's go Brandon.'
Sharyl Attkisson, a journalist with Washington DC-based Full Measure News, tweeted a picture of empty shelves, noting: 'My grocery. There's plenty of food it's not as if we will starve. But I've never seen empty shelves like this in my lifetime.'
Pearson Sharp, with One America News, tweeted a parody logo for Biden, with the E resembling empty shelves.
A shop owner in Arizona shared photos of his family's store without the usual supplies.
'#EmptyShelvesJoe #FJBiden #LetsGoBrandon Here’s our family owned hardware store.
'My father’s been here for 35 years and he said it’s NEVER been like this. Smh.'
A man in Illinois tweeted a photo of a sparsely-stacked warehouse in Illinois, and said: 'No toilet paper again. Thanks #EmptyShelvesJoe!'
A woman by the name of Laurie said: 'Just went food shopping...again...thanks #EmptyShelvesJoe.
'I really love having to go every day now in order to find what used to take one trip.'
Republican politicians were quick to join in.
The House Republicans' account on Twitter tweeted: 'Top tending topic on Twitter right now is #EmptyShelvesJoe.'
Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Republicans Conference, and a congresswoman for New York, referenced struggles to get supplies for her newborn son Sam, born on August 31.
'Ask new Moms how Joe Biden’s economy is going… Diaper prices are surging & Size 1 or 2 diapers are incredibly limited on grocery store shelves!
'Joe Biden has caused an economic crisis in America.'
Jody Hice, a congressman for Georgia, tweeted a meme of Biden in a Game of Thrones chair, with the slogan: 'Winter is coming.'
He tweeted: '72 days till Christmas and it's going to be a budget buster...
'Gas prices are skyrocketing. Airlines are in chaos. Heating costs are up. Toy shortages are looming.
'And it's all thanks to Joe Biden!'
Biden reached a deal on Wednesday with unions and business leaders from Walmart, FedEx, UPS and others to expand operations at the port.
Once implemented the proposed changes could increase output by more than 3,500 shipping containers per week, White House officials said.
'Traditionally, our ports have only been open during the week, Monday through Friday,' said Biden on Wednesday.
'And they're generally closed down at nights and on weekends.
'By staying open seven days a week through the night and on the weekends, the port of Los Angeles will open over 60 extra hours a week.
'That will almost double the number of hours that the port is open for business than earlier this year.'
Still, dozens of ships carrying hundreds of thousands of containers remained at anchor outside the harbor, waiting for a berth on docks packed to capacity.
