Trump Eats KFC With a Knife and Fork, Outrage Follows

By Valerie Cools 2 min read

It seems Donald Trump has a knack for causing an uproar, even with the simplest of actions – like having dinner.

On Monday night, Trump took a break from disrespecting Gold Star parents and claiming New York Times journalists “don’t write good” to tweet a photo of himself having a Kentucky Fried Chicken dinner on his private jet.

“Great afternoon in Ohio & a great evening in Pennsylvania – departing now. See you tomorrow Virginia!” read the tweet.

Great afternoon in Ohio & a great evening in Pennsylvania – departing now. See you tomorrow Virginia! pic.twitter.com/jQTQYBFpdb

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2016

It may seem harmless, but given Trump’s polarizing persona, both Twitter and the media were quick to react with hilarious results.

Let’s start with the obvious: Trump is holding a knife and fork. This is not the usual way of eating fried chicken, and many people reacted with derision.

https://twitter.com/goldengateblond/status/760302152631713792

Trump eats KFC with a fork and knife because his hands are too small to pick up the chicken.

— Alex (@alb_971) August 2, 2016

https://twitter.com/gilbertjasono/status/760303035742576640

This isn’t the first time Trump has been called out for inappropriate use of cutlery. In 2011, he famously took Gov. Sarah Palin out for pizza, drawing criticism for refusing to eat with his hands.

Others pointed out that there is a salt shaker on Trump’s table, which seems oddly unnecessary, given the sodium content of your average KFC meal. Unless the salt shaker was only put there to act as a paperweight for the artfully displayed newspapers in front of Trump.

(People have also pointed out that this is appears to be the Saturday edition of the Wall Street Journal, which means either Trump is behind on the news, or was not actually reading the paper and instead used it for its gloomy headline about America’s weak economic recovery.)

And that's salt. This guy salts his KFC. Heart disease may take Trump down before the election does.

— Wartooth (@HokieWartooth) August 2, 2016

Also, that salt shaker – did he add salt to KFC? That seems ill-advised. #Trump #imwithher https://t.co/uMXROtL9bj

— karen (@KarenDBgo) August 2, 2016

Some were irritated by Trump’s clumsy attempt to present himself as a regular, KFC-loving guy who just happens to own a private jet.

you eat KFC in your private jet?? You're just like us!!!

— Ben Wexler (@mrbenwexler) August 2, 2016

https://twitter.com/daviddeweil/status/760470668060295168

And finally, some people thought Trump’s choice of KFC over other chains such as Popeyes or Bonjangles showed a distinct lack of judgment on his part.

https://twitter.com/crxssan/status/760480345288429568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/eleven8/status/760321959930503168

Between this, the Palin pizza debacle, and the Cinco de Mayo taco bowl incident, when Trump thought he could sway Latino voters by posing with a taco salad, it’s starting to look like Trump should just leave food out of his campaign.

Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics! https://t.co/ufoTeQd8yA pic.twitter.com/k01Mc6CuDI

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2016