Obama defends Cheesecake Factory joke amid Republican criticism
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Barack Obama said his frequent visits to the Cheesecake Factory were a family staple, dismissing GOP attacks on his comment as distractions from policy issues.
Barack Obama responded to criticism from President Donald Trump and members of the administration after a joke about the Cheesecake Factory at an October 24 rally in Ohio. Speaking at an October 28 event in Atlanta for Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff and gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, Obama said, "I am the father of two daughters; do you think I could have survived their childhood without the Cheesecake Factory? That was my jam for about a decade."
He characterized the Republican reaction as a "whole-of-government response," referencing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s lunch at the restaurant without naming the official. Obama added that the focus on the joke was a distraction, saying, "They don't have solutions to actual problems, so they'd rather have the media and you talking about the Cheesecake Factory."
During the same rally, Obama reiterated his criticism of the Trump administration’s policies, linking higher consumer prices to tariffs and questioning the decision to engage in a war with Iran. Sen. Ossoff, introduced by Obama, pledged to investigate the administration, describing it as "a spectacle of grift."
The event drew enthusiastic support from the crowd, which chanted slogans against the president.