Trump and Obama Trade Jabs Over the Cheesecake Factory in Final Days of Midterm Race

Former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump are trading barbs over the Cheesecake Factory as voters get ready to decide control of Congress on Tuesday. It began on October 24 at an Ohio campaign stop, where Obama mocked Trump’s gold heavy White House renovations by saying the place looked like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Trump answered this week with long defenses of both the renovations and the restaurant chain.

What Obama Said About Inflation and High Prices

Campaigning for Democrats in Morrow, Georgia, on Wednesday, Obama said Trump and his allies would rather talk about a joke than about inflation, hoping voters will not notice that bills are higher and life is tougher. He said the government mobilized a full response to a joke, not to rising prices. When conservative critics claimed he was mocking the chain’s customers, Obama replied that, as the father of two daughters, he could not have survived their childhood without visiting the restaurant.

Trump Calls Obama Elitist

At stops in Texas and Mississippi, Trump accused Obama of being elitist and joked that every piece of lettuce he eats has to be perfect. He told reporters on Monday that the Cheesecake Factory remark showed why Obama was a lousy president. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined in on Tuesday, eating a French dip cheeseburger at a Washington location and telling the Martha’s Vineyard set, where Obama owns a home, to give the chain a try.

The $5,000 Payment Promise and Voter Anxiety

Both sides are trying to paint the other as out of touch with households squeezed by high prices, a central issue this election. Democrats say Trump ignores everyday concerns, and he has played down higher gas prices since the war with Iran began. Trump gave critics another opening when he said the $5,000 payments he promises if Republicans keep Congress could barely buy a hamburger and a small dessert at Mar-a-Lago.