'Phony Outrage': Obama Mocks Trump Response To His Cheesecake Factory Joke

Barack Obama has escalated his spat with Donald Trump by mocking how the current US president responded when he joked about his White House decor.

The former Democratic president said Trump’s redecoration of the iconic presidential building looked like “Saddam Hussein had just opened a Cheesecake Factory” at a rally earlier this week.

Officials such as Trump’s secretary of the Treasury were then sent out to defend Trump over the jibe as MAGA accused Obama for snobbery.

The current president himself also insisted that he had improved the White House, saying: “I fixed it with the finest artisans in the world. We re-skinned it; it was in horrible shape.”

Trump himself has been seen supergluing golden embellishments to the fireplace mantel in the Oval Office, too.

But Obama doubled down on his criticism when speaking at a rally in Georgia.

The former Democratic president noted how the Trump administration had “mobilised a whole government response” to a single joke.

Obama said on Wednesday: “I heard the president was not happy when I joked over the weekend that he’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened up a Cheesecake Factory.”

He continued: “I am the father of two daughters. Do you think I could have survived their childhood without going to the Cheesecake Factory?”

He claimed, high prices mean people are no longer able to afford to go out to eat – but that’s not what the White House is focused on.

“You’d think this administration would be spending time worrying about that,” he said. “They did not dispute what I said about them being directly responsible for rising prices.

“They cannot argue with that. They did not deny terrorists were contributing to higher costs for families. They did not say anything about that.

“I accused this administration, based on the facts, that they were engaging in unprecedented levels of corruption. They didn’t say anything about that.

“The president wasn’t even mad about the Saddam Hussein comparison. That part didn’t bother him.

“But he was very upset about the Cheesecake Factory comments. He took great umbrage.”

He added: “This was the really crazy part – they mobilised a whole of government response to that joke. Not inflation, to that joke.”

Obama continued: “This is what I mean when I say these are not serious people. They don’t have solutions to actual problems. So they would rather have the media – and you – talking about the Cheesecake Factory.

“That’s the game they’ve been playing for the last two years.

“Just keep throwing distractions out there, attacks, fabrications, phony outrage and hope that you won’t notice that your bills are higher and your life is tougher.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.