Just look at this guy.
In the long, shocking history of Trump’s transgressions, this is pretty minor. But still. Forget, for a moment, that he’s eating KFC, despite the fact that pretty much every city in the country has at least one superior fried-chicken option. Sometimes, after a long day, you just need some fast food.
The first thing you really notice is the knife and fork. If your dinner comes from a grease-stained bucket, there’s no need to break out the cutlery. You use your hands. But then, remember that this man has spent the last several months interacting with Donald Trump supporters. These are people who have examined Trump’s career, seen everything he’s said and done over the course of his presidential campaign, watched as he’s publicly feuded with the parents of a fallen American soldier, and still concluded: Yeah, that’s my guy. That’s the man who should run this country. So it’s understandable that Trump, known germaphobe, might not want to handle his food directly after a couple of days on the campaign trail rubbing elbows with those folks.
But look at that knife. It’s a butter knife. It doesn’t stand a chance against that chicken. At best it’ll get one tiny nub off. The salt and pepper probably aren’t necessary, either, given that a hunk of KFC chicken is a pure, batter-coated sodium bomb. Also: Why does Trump have two plates, with what looks to be several napkins placed in between? Who eats like that? Is the top plate a charger? Is the piece of chicken some kind of appetizer course before he dives into those tubs of gravy and potatoes as the entrée?
Given that Trump famously enjoys his steak well-done, and even eats slices of pizza with silverware, it’s reasonable to conclude this is just the latest example of the Republican Presidential nominee’s inability to enjoy food and/or eat it correctly. Yet the cynic could argue that Trump knows exactly how to eat fried chicken correctly, and that this whole strange setup is merely a ploy to get the press to discuss what would otherwise be a completely boring photo. It’s a valid point, but like that KFC chicken bucket, Trump is now stained. Forever marked as a man who doesn’t eat fried chicken the right way. (Also the racism.)
You have to wonder how KFC’s execs feel about this, given that corporations tend to avoid relationships with controversial figures. Then again, it’s hard to look at the current ad campaign without concluding there’s something distinctly … Trumpian about the whole thing:
