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Although Bill Clinton had a noted love of Big Macs, Donald Trump may truly go down in history as the president who adored fast food. He ate it constantly on the campaign trail. He’s been known to ask the White House kitchen to make copycat versions of Quarter Pounders and fried apple pies, his favorite McDonald’s treats. He occasionally enjoys a cheeseburger or two in bed. And last night, while hosting the Clemson Tigers at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Trump presented the college football champs with an array of fast food burgers, fish sandwiches, pizzas, and sides, arranged on ornate platters and pedestals, accented by three-foot-high candelabras. The fries were kept warm with heat lamps, and served in White House-branded paper cups. Trump sourced this feast from local branches of Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Domino’s. “I like it all,” Trump told reporters at the gathering. “It’s all good stuff. Great American food.”
Of course, the decision to serve a fast food feast was also inspired by the fact that the White House kitchen staff is currently furloughed due to the government shutdown, now in its third week with no end in sight. “Because the Democrats refuse to negotiate on border security, much of the residence staff at the White House is furloughed — so the president is personally paying for the event to be catered with some of everyone’s favorite fast foods,” said press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Trump hopped on Twitter this morning to boast about the “hamberder” dinner he arranged for the football team:
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Several hours after Trump fired off this message, the POTUS deleted the tweet and re-posted with the correct spelling of “hamburgers.”
Despite the fact that the Talladega Nights-esque feast was a hit in Trump’s eyes, at least, the dinner inspired a lot of humorous observations from journalists, comedians, and White House watchers on Twitter. Here’s are the best reactions to Trump’s government shutdown junk food dinner party:
Wait, I thought the Fyre Festival guy went to jail. https://t.co/ZB0yoq1etA
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) January 14, 2019
2009 vs 2019 ✨
— Kingsley (@kingsleyyy) January 15, 2019
Never thought I’d make it this far Don’t give up even when life seems rough ⛈ God always has a plan pic.twitter.com/YcycmbAC4v
Be my guest. Be my guest.
— itsonlyzach (@itsonlyzach) January 15, 2019
My whole staff is so depressed.
Eat fast food like I do nightly,
Gather round and please Be Best!
Hot Big Macs, nuggets too,
So much trashier than you knew.
When you're done say, "Dasvidaniya,"
You don't like it? Tell Melania. pic.twitter.com/9i4YGJsBMZ
cheat day heard of it pic.twitter.com/pNvPeC4dBG
— Jessica Roy (@JessicaKRoy) January 15, 2019
“Welcome... to Fantasy Island!” pic.twitter.com/PmsGdGNpal
— Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) January 15, 2019
“ Come with me, and you’ll see, a world of pure imagination... ” pic.twitter.com/XNm6xKXGAh
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 15, 2019
What makes this picture extra funny is that McD's is running a 2 for 5 special on Big Macs, Filet o fish, and quarter pounders. So he got this on sale https://t.co/ee1b1ucIhW
— Simply TC (@BienSur_JeTaime) January 15, 2019
DC is mostly a better place to live than it was when I first moved here 15 years ago, but once upon a time we had a Wendy’s downtown so you could have a spicy chicken sandwich for lunch without snagging an invitation to the White House.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 14, 2019
Not even Shake Shack?! He needs to be IMPEACHED
— Ira (@ira) January 15, 2019
Me: this edible ain’t sh*t
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 14, 2019
Me 45 minutes later, coming home from Wendy’s: pic.twitter.com/w0isTL5kn6
“Sir, this is a Wendy’s” went from meme to reality pretty quickly.
— Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) January 14, 2019
There will be a hamberder on at least three DC menus by tonight. pic.twitter.com/bSRSOxvxbv
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) January 15, 2019
Although the big fast food chains usually try to take advantage of viral moments like this on social media, the Twitter accounts for Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Domino’s, and Burger King have stayed notably quiet about last night’s White House fast food feast.
Update: Actually, Burger King caved and decided to ride the hamberder wave this morning:
due to a large order placed yesterday, we're all out of hamberders.
— Burger King (@BurgerKing) January 15, 2019
just serving hamburgers today.
• White House Welcomes College Football Champions With Fast Food Buffett [NYT]
• All Donald Trump Coverage [E]