Jordan Klepper opens the menu on Obama's Cheesecake Factory uproar
The Daily Show turns a restaurant's unexpected political defenders into a desk piece, then welcomes John Hodgman for a distinctly Maine election briefing.
The Daily Show
Story of Why this story? One of the most watched videos since yesterday, with 1,930,504 views.
Conservative Media Rallies Behind The Cheesecake Factory After Obama Serves Up Diss | The Daily Show
Video summary
Press to jump
- 0:54Conservative media clips respond to Obama's comparison of Trump's White House decor to a Cheesecake Factory.
- 2:46Klepper brings out a giant menu to examine conflicting descriptions of the restaurant's clientele.
- 4:58Trump details White House repairs and construction in news footage, with Klepper adding commentary.
- 8:26The segment shifts to Susan Collins' reelection prospects in Maine.
- 8:49John Hodgman arrives in coastal winter gear for a comic briefing about Maine belonging and outsider status.
Jordan Klepper has a giant laminated menu and a question: is The Cheesecake Factory an everyday refuge for working Americans or an emblem of fine dining? In the conservative media clips he assembles, it seems to be doing both jobs.
The Daily Show segment drew roughly 1.9 million views since yesterday. Its starting point is Barack Obama's joke about Donald Trump's White House renovations: "He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory."
Where Inside Edition's separately published report took that comparison to a former restaurant design executive, Klepper examines the political response. Fox News, Newsmax and podcast clips show commentators defending the restaurant and criticizing Obama's remark. Klepper makes the conflicting descriptions of its clientele the centerpiece of his routine, with the oversized menu supplying a suitably substantial visual aid.
The segment then gives Trump room to describe the renovations himself. Clips cover plaster repairs, window ornamentation and helipad construction; Klepper's running response contrasts the president's attention to the building with the work conducted inside it.
There is a second act beyond the restaurant dispute. Turning to Susan Collins' reelection prospects, Klepper summons John Hodgman, credited on screen as "Resident Maine Resident." Hodgman arrives in heavy coastal gear with a pipe, but immediately distinguishes dressing the part from belonging: "No matter what I look like, I am not a native Mainer."
His comic explanation for Collins' durability rests on that distinction between locals and people "from away." The wardrobe is elaborate, but Hodgman's point is simple: even an enthusiastic Maine resident can remain an outsider.
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The numbers
The segment drew nearly two million views since yesterday. Its first-day comment section was also about four times busier than usual for the show's regular videos.
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Which state's Senate politics does Hodgman explain in this segment?
Hodgman joins Klepper to discuss Susan Collins' reelection prospects in Maine.