Obama shrugs off Cheesecake Factory backlash while attacking Trump and the administration
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Barack Obama dismissed Republican criticism of his Cheesecake Factory joke, turning the episode into another attack on President Donald Trump and his administration.
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 described the Republican reaction as a "whole-of-government response," referencing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s lunch at the restaurant without naming the official. Obama then tried to wave off the issue as 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."
At the same rally, Obama repeated his criticism of the Trump administration’s policies, blaming tariffs for higher consumer prices and questioning the decision to engage in a war with Iran. Sen. Ossoff, introduced by Obama, pledged to investigate the administration, calling it "a spectacle of grift."
The event drew enthusiastic support from the crowd, which chanted slogans against the president.