A dispute over a Cheesecake Factory joke has become a campaign talking point for President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama as U.S. voters weigh high prices ahead of Tuesday’s midterm election, Reuters reported.
Obama made the joke about Trump’s White House renovation during an Oct. 24 campaign appearance in Ohio. At a Wednesday event for Democrats in Morrow, Georgia, Obama argued that Trump and his allies had devoted more attention to the restaurant remark than to inflation and rising household bills, Reuters said.
His Georgia argument followed a theme from the rally that EconoTimes covered in an earlier report on Obama’s inflation criticism.
Trump took up Obama’s remarks during campaign stops in Texas and Mississippi. In comments to reporters on Monday, Trump accused Obama of elitism for mocking the chain and dismissed complaints about the White House renovations, Reuters reported.
In Texas, Trump said $5,000 checks he has proposed for Americans if Republicans retain control of Congress might buy “a hamburger and maybe a small dessert” at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
The exchange gives both camps another way to argue that the opposing party has lost touch with household concerns. Democrats have criticized Trump as disconnected from everyday economic pressures, while Trump has played down higher gasoline prices since the war with Iran began, Reuters reported.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined the dispute Tuesday with a visit to a Cheesecake Factory in Washington. Reuters reported that he ate a French dip cheeseburger and urged the “Martha’s Vineyard set” to try the chain; Obama owns a home on the Massachusetts island.
Reuters traced the rivalry to 2011, when Trump falsely claimed Obama was not born in the United States. Obama later mocked Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, the outlet reported.
High prices remain a leading campaign concern as Americans face pressure on household budgets, Reuters said. The restaurant argument has put that economic dispute alongside personal criticism in the final stretch of the race. Voters will decide which party controls Congress on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
