OPINION:
Move over, beer summit. This president, Donald Trump, doesn’t drink. What he does do is eat hot dogs — and aboard Air Force One, he shared one with none other than talk radio icon Michael Savage.
As far as memories go, that’s a pretty cool one.
“Here is a man who is conducting world affairs, here is a man who has the issue of Iran on his hands, North Korea, an election, fundraising, personal and family matters, and he has the dignity and respect for his supporters, like the listeners of The Savage Nation, because it’s about the audience, it’s not about me,” Savage wrote, in an emailed statement.
What a difference a summit makes. Remember the famous Barack Obama beer summit of 2009, when that president brought together black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and white police Sgt. James Crowley to heal racial divides?
This is how Time remembers it — Time, a magazine that’s hardly a friend of conservatives: “Beer Summit Gone Wrong,” the headline blasted.
The piece went on to say how the “beer summit” could have been a good thing for public relations, “except for one thing: the media were invited.” In other words, it had all the looks of a staged political stunt.
That’s because it was a staged political stunt.
“The three men (plus Joe Biden) sat around a strategically placed table, each drinking his favorite brew, as the press corps watched from across the White House lawn,” Time wrote.
Watched, and clicked their camera shutters, planning in their minds how best to create the most fawning media packages to showcase Obama as the friend of black man and white man, both. As a healer. As a peace-maker.
A savior.
Gag. Humble is not a word that was generally slung Obama’s way.
But this president — this President Trump: What a refreshing change.
“While sitting with President Trump on Air Force One, two hotdogs are delivered,” Savage wrote. “I’m starving at this point. President Trump … says, ’You want one?’ I said, ’Sure.’ He takes one off his plate [and places it] delicately on another plate.”
He recommends mustard, not “that ketchup with sugar on it” — because apparently, “they know what I say on the radio” about nutrition, Savage wrote.
“President Trump then dollops out the mustard for me from his plate, showing a certain humility and generosity that you may not be aware of from him,” Savage went on.
It’s the little things that reveal the biggest things.
“I doubt very much that Obama would have taken mustard from his plate and given it to anyone — or shared a hotdog with anyone,” Savage wrote.
Exactly.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering: Savage eats his hot dog in his hands, baseball game style. Trump? Trump eats his hotdog with a fork and knife.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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