Obama’s ‘Cheesecake Factory’ Joke Turns Into Cultural Clash Between Elites and Hungry Diners

Many critics have come at President Trump over his glittering White House decor. So be it. But they best not dare come for The Cheesecake Factory.President Obama took a jab at the president’s gold-heavy White House renovations during a Saturday rally at Cleveland, Ohio, for gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton and Senate candidate Sherrod Brown. “He seems very focused on home renovations. He should be on HGTV!” Mr. Obama told the crowd. “There’s gold everywhere. What’s up with the gold? He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” The crowd erupted in laughter and cheers. But the pushback has been fierce, escalating into a multi-day political sideshow, drawing responses from the president himself, his treasury secretary, and a chorus of conservative commentators — all days before the November 3 midterm election.The Cheesecake Factory, a sprawling American restaurant chain known for its ornate, gilded dining rooms, oversized menu, enormous portions, and endless cheesecake options has become the unlikely shorthand for America’s latest cultural clash. Writer Scott Jennings labeled Mr. Obama “undefeated at condescending to regular folks.” Conservative commentator Matt Whitlock called it “classic Obama snobbery.”Fox News host Martha MacCallum concluded that Mr. Obama’s comment “goes exactly to why Democrats lost the middle class, why they lost blue-collar voters.” “It’s kind of a guns and religion clinging kind of comment and it turns a lot of people in this country off,” she said.Refusing to let the remark go unanswered, the Trump administration has jumped into the discourse. “This is the man who built the museum [that] looks like Darth Vader’s tomb,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday, referencing the new Obama Presidential Center at Chicago.Emerging from a Cheesecake Factory near the White House to address a Fox Business reporter, Mr. Bessent added, “I would just tell the Martha’s Vineyard set to give it a try.” In a follow-up post on X, he recommended the 980-calorie “Cheeseburger Spring Rolls.” At a campaign rally at Corinth, Mississippi on Monday night, Mr. Trump devoted roughly six minutes to the style skirmish. “He said, ‘This isn’t a Cheesecake Factory.’ Can you believe it? Which is a very successful company. He doesn’t like successful companies,” the president said, adding that Mr. Obama “doesn’t understand it because he’s not a smart guy.” “For you to say it’s a Cheesecake Factory, that just shows why you were a lousy president,” he added. Mr. Trump’s embellishments to the White House, which include a new White House ballroom, a heliport, and extensive gold ornamentation in the Oval Office, have drawn considerable scrutiny, particularly over his decision to bypass consultation from Washington preservationists and historians. Not everyone is impressed with the decor selection. “Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom,” President Clinton said last week.Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews Monday, the president spent several minutes defending his renovation projects. “I fix things very good, very beautifully,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s a natural thing. It actually relaxes me.”Mr. Trump insists the renovations were necessary upkeep rather than excess. He described the building’s prior condition as marred by a cracked column, missing ornamentation, and broken tile. “The White House represents our country, and that has to be pristine,” he said.Indignation over the perceived Cheesecake Factory insult has drawn its own pushback. Menswear commentator Derek Guy wrote on X that casting the joke as elitist is itself condescending to middle America. “Working-class people are not culturally illiterate just because their experiences are shaped by their limited means.”Commentator Jonah Goldberg, though, glibly noted the instinct of those expressing outrage. “It’s hilarious that nearly all of them are offended on behalf of the Cheesecake Factory and not Trump,” he joked on X. “The logic of their freakout is, ‘How dare you say the Cheesecake Factory looks like the Trump White House!? The Cheesecake Factory is awesome!'”

Obama’s ‘Cheesecake Factory’ Joke Turns Into Cultural Clash Between Elites and Hungry Diners

Obama’s ‘Cheesecake Factory’ Joke Turns Into Cultural Clash Between Elites and Hungry Diners

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