In the thick of a heated midterm electoral season, the Cheesecake Factory, of all things, became the latest brand to get sucked into a political food fight against its will. This week, Democrats and Republicans converted the familiar restaurant into a symbol for who is and isn’t out of touch with mainstream America. But largely because the chain has remained stoically above the fray, the incident has worked out rather sweetly for the restaurant.

The fracas started with a remark last weekend from former President Barack Obama, poking fun at current President Donald Trump’s focus on renovation projects and penchant for maximum aesthetic opulence.

“He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,” Obama joked. If you’ve never been: The chain is known partly for a maximalist decor that mixes opulent elements from Egyptian columns to Victorian beadboard paneling, European café details, decorative ceilings, and deep booths in a mash-up that might strike some as, let’s say, tacky.  

Of course, the GOP pounced. The Wall Street Journal editorial board found it necessary to weigh in, slamming Obama as “condescending” for “making fun” of the popular chain. The remark was said to show why Democrats lost the middle class. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, interviewed outside a Cheesecake Factory, sniped: “I would tell the Martha’s Vineyard set to give it a try.”

” The White House posted an AI clip of a cartoon Trump waving outside a Cheesecake Factory.

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