Instead of dunking its cookies in milk, Oreo spent part of Tuesday dunking on Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and his senior moment earlier in the day.
The social-media joshing began with a House Financial Services Committee hearing earlier Tuesday, at which Mr. Carson seemed confused by a Democratic lawmaker’s use of the term “REO foreclosure,” the acronym meaning “real estate owned.”
“Oreo?” Mr. Carson asked Rep. Katie Porter of California.
“No, not an Oreo,” she replied. “R-E-O.”
The mishearing prompted much mirth on social media and the official Twitter account for the iconic Nabisco cookie brand joined in the fun.
“𝗥𝗘𝗢 stands for ’𝗥eally 𝗘xcellent 𝗢REO (cookie).’ Everyone knows that,” the Oreo account wrote, though it did not make an explicit reference to the hearing or tag Mr. Carson.
Oreo took the tweet down shortly after reporters began to notice, though the account offered no explanation.
The HUD secretary displayed his own sense of humor.
“OH, REO!” he wrote on Twitter with two Oreo photos, one a close-up of a box of the cookies — family sized and double-stuffed — and the other an office shot of Mr. Carson holding it.
“Thanks, @RepKatiePorter. Enjoying a few post-hearing snacks. Sending some your way!” he added.
OH, REO! Thanks, @RepKatiePorter. Enjoying a few post-hearing snacks. Sending some your way! pic.twitter.com/q4MMTBWVUI
— Ben Carson (@SecretaryCarson) May 21, 2019
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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