Monday night the Clemson Football National Champions made a visit to the White House where President Trump hosted them for dinner in the State Dining Room. The President personally paid for a lavish spread of fast food from a variety of establishments.
“The President wanted to host a fun event to celebrate the College Football National Champion Clemson Tigers. 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,” Press Secretary Sarah Sanders released in a statement.
Here’s a video I shot of President Trump showing off his 300 hamburgers. pic.twitter.com/P06S6I5w07
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) January 14, 2019
Earlier this evening, President @realDonaldTrump treated the Clemson Tigers football team to dinner in the State Dining Room! #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/P5JAo6yzfR
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 15, 2019
"I think we're going to serve McDonald's, Wendy's, & Burger King, with some pizza. I would think that's their favorite food." — Trump, on Clemson football team visit pic.twitter.com/QPQ5SFSZhQ
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 14, 2019
While the Clemson Tigers seemed to be enjoying themselves, a number of President Trump's critics lost their minds over the presentation.
1. US fast food emerges out of a vast network of animal suffering & ecological destruction & in turn has produced an epidemic of ill health. In large swathes of the country it is the cheapest & sometimes only option, thanks to a skein of implicit & explicit subsidies ... https://t.co/DmXHMrCcH0
— David Roberts (@drvox) January 15, 2019
2. ... backed by ubiquitous, relentless corporate advertising. Yet somehow this unholy stew of capitalist exploitation & corporate welfare has taken on a vaguely populist air. Already I guarantee there are people responding to the first tweet calling me a tedious scold.
— David Roberts (@drvox) January 15, 2019
3. Yes, in many places fast food is the cheapest option, so many poor & working class people depend on it. Yes, it tastes good, because it is literally designed in f'ing laboratories to stimulate our taste centers. So, yes, lots of ordinary people eat it & like it! But ...
— David Roberts (@drvox) January 15, 2019
4. ... it is super-weird to then extend fast food some sort of populist credibility, as though to criticize it is to criticize the people who eat it. It seems to me that is exactly what McF'ingDonalds wants. It's what Chevrolet & WalMart want. They all want a protective sheen ...
— David Roberts (@drvox) January 15, 2019
5. ... of virtue, patriotism, populism, down-home community, derived from the people who use their products. But that's just advertising. These are giant multinational corporations. Their primary objective is to deliver quarterly returns to shareholders. All else is subordinate.
— David Roberts (@drvox) January 15, 2019
6. They lobby & bribe politicians to regulate them loosely, to subsidize their products, & above all to help them avoid financial responsibility for the social, health, & ecological damage they do. They plaster advertising on every available surface, object, or medium.
— David Roberts (@drvox) January 15, 2019
7. The status quo is a corrupt deal between multinational corporations & politicians. It's a crap deal for ordinary people, as evidenced by the health outcomes. The fact that they've got ordinary people defending them, casting critics as elitist, is a brilliant f'ing con.
— David Roberts (@drvox) January 15, 2019
8. It's corporatism & crony capitalism masquerading as populism -- a bunch of confused & vaguely reactionary narratives distracting from the core goal of concentrating more wealth & power at the top. In short, it is Trump all over. </fin> pic.twitter.com/0ULyC3Hb3e
— David Roberts (@drvox) January 15, 2019
The media is also fact checking how many burgers were actually at the event.
White House yesterday: Trump ordered 300 hamburgers for the Clemson Tigers.
— Chris Sommerfeldt (@C_Sommerfeldt) January 15, 2019
Trump today: I ordered “over 1000 hamberders etc.”
???? ???? pic.twitter.com/PkywMprBzg
In the meantime, the rest of us are hungry.
