Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent turned the tables on former President Obama on Monday, mocking the Democrat from outside a Cheesecake Factory in Washington after Obama ridiculed President Trump’s White House renovations at a weekend campaign rally.
Bessent was leaving the restaurant near the White House when a Fox Business reporter asked him about the former president’s remarks. He did not hold back.
“Well, two things,” Bessent said. “This is the man who built the museum that looks like Darth Vader’s tomb.”
The comment appeared to target the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, the long-delayed project on the city’s South Side that has drawn criticism over its design and cost.
Bessent then took aim at Obama’s well-heeled crowd, saying he would tell the “Martha’s Vineyard set” to give the restaurant a try. Obama owns a home on the exclusive Massachusetts island, a summer retreat popular with wealthy Democrats.
The Treasury chief added that he always orders the French dip cheeseburger at the chain and that it was excellent on Monday.
The exchange began Saturday, when Obama campaigned for Democrats in Ohio ahead of next week’s midterm elections. During his speech, the former president mocked the gold accents Trump has added to the White House.
“What’s up with the gold?” Obama asked the crowd. He went on to say Trump has the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory, joking that the president seems focused on home renovations and should be on HGTV.
Trump has overseen several high-profile changes to the executive mansion during his second term, including gold décor in the Oval Office and construction of a new White House ballroom.
The president himself responded to the jab on Tuesday while speaking with reporters at Joint Base Andrews.
“For you to say it’s a Cheesecake Factory — that just shows why you were a lousy president,” Trump said, adding that walls in the building had not been cleaned in years and that Obama never noticed areas that had gone unpainted.
Republicans quickly seized on Obama’s remark as a sign of elitism. GOP commentator Matt Whitlock called it “Classic Obama snobbery,” arguing the line looked down on a restaurant that millions of ordinary Americans enjoy.
Not everyone agreed with that criticism. Menswear writer Derek Guy pushed back online, but in doing so said his own working-class immigrant family went to chains like Red Lobster and The Cheesecake Factory for special nights out, which critics said only reinforced how many Americans view the restaurant as a treat rather than a punchline.
The chain itself has had little to complain about. Shares of The Cheesecake Factory are up roughly 120% this year following a record quarter, outpacing many major tech stocks.
The back-and-forth comes as both parties make their closing arguments ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms, with Obama hitting the trail for Democrats in key battleground states and the Trump administration working to keep the focus on the economy.
For Bessent, the moment offered a rare lighthearted turn for a Cabinet official who usually spends his time discussing tariffs, interest rates and federal debt. It also gave Republicans a fresh talking point: that Democrats are out of touch with the everyday places where working families eat, shop and celebrate.
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