Barack Obama wants to set the record straight: He loves the Cheesecake Factory as much as the next dad.
The former president defended his record with the California restaurant chain while campaigning for Democrats in Atlanta on Wednesday. At a campaign rally in Cleveland on Saturday, Obama said President Donald Trump’s White House renovations “look like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake factory.”
The joke sparked days of backlash from Republicans and the White House, who painted Obama as an elitist out of touch with ordinary Americans. Obama countered that he spent a lot of time at the restaurant chain.
“I’m the father of two daughters. Do you think I could have spent their childhood without going to the Cheesecake Factory?” Obama asked the crowd on Wednesday. “I lived at Chuck E. Cheese, California Pizza Kitchen, and the Cheesecake Factory. That was about ten years of my life.”
Trump called Obama a “terrible president” after he made his first comments over the weekend, comparing the White House to a restaurant. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant dined at a Cheesecake Factory on Monday and said he “would tell Martha’s Vineyard to give it a try.”
Obama, who is running against Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff and gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, criticized the response to his remarks. He said the White House devoted more energy to rebutting his “Cheesecake Factory” jokes than addressing affordability or corruption allegations.
“The president wasn’t even offended by the Saddam Hussein comparison,” he said. “It didn’t bother him, but he was very upset about The Cheesecake Factory. He was very unhappy.”
Obama said the White House “mobilized” in response to his jokes but “not on inflation,” noting that Bessant visited the Cheesecake Factory and said: “This is the guy who’s in charge of the economy and he should be looking for ways to make your life cheaper.”
The White House did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
The Cheesecake Factory did not respond to a request for comment and has not responded publicly to the controversy. The company did score a victory on Tuesday, however, when it reported third-quarter earnings that topped expectations. As of Wednesday’s close, its shares had risen more than 100% this year.
Cheesecake Factory executives did not mention the controversy during the earnings call.