'He lost' vs 'they aren't serious people': Obama mocks Trump's Cheesecake Factory meltdown as rivals trade barbs at duelling rallies

Barack Obama on Wednesday (Oct 28) mocked US President Donald Trump over his and his administration's days-long meltdown over a Cheesecake Factory joke, as the two traded barbs at duelling campaign rallies ahead of Tuesday's (Nov 3) midterm elections.

The clash began last week when Obama mocked Trump's redecoration of the White House at a rally, saying it looked like "Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory, just gold everywhere." Since then, Trump and those in his administration have gone over the top in praising the restaurant franchise while desperately trying to paint Obama as out of touch with everyday Americans for daring to evoke the chain to make a dig at Trump.

Obama's comeback

Obama fired back at Trump during a campaign rally in Georgia supporting Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff for Senate and Keisha Lance Bottoms for governor. He clarified that his earlier comments targeted the sitting president, not the Cheesecake Factory and those who eat there.

"I am the father of two daughters. Do you think I could have survived their childhood without going to the Cheesecake Factory?" Obama said. "I lived at Chuck E. Cheese and the Cheesecake Factory. Of course, the real problem is prices have gotten so high a lot of folks can barely afford to go out to eat."

That remark, made in front of a packed arena in Atlanta, comes after Trump whined about Obama's initial dig.

"Obama, who doesn't understand cleanliness," Trump said at a rally in Ohio on Wednesday. “Who doesn't understand broken, cracked stone and sidewalk. Who doesn't understand that having asphalt going to your main entrance is not the right thing. We'd like to have granites and marbles.”

'Not serious people'

Obama has used his lasting influence in the Democratic Party to tour the country and endorse a slate of candidates in the last month. He has travelled across competitive Midwestern and Southern battleground states, including Michigan, Ohio and Georgia, to boost his Democratic candidates.

"This is what I mean when I say [the Trump administration] are not serious people," Obama said. "They do not have solutions to serious problems, so they'd rather have the media, and you, talking about the Cheesecake Factory."

Trump's response

President Donald Trump downplayed concerns about Obama hitting the campaign trail, saying Obama supported both Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris and "he lost."

"I took heat because Obama, who is, I mean, I always worry when he campaigns against me because he got involved with Hillary Clinton. He was really, oh, and then he lost," Trump said in Chillicothe at the same time Obama rallied in Georgia. He continued: "He then got involved with Kamala, and he lost. And he lost."

Trump said he was told Obama was coming out on the campaign trail. His reaction: "I said, 'That's good.'"

The president alluded to recent comments from Obama attacking his aesthetic changes to the White House, defending his preoccupation with projects like his massive ballroom, among others. "The White House, I think, is the number one symbol of our country, and we can't have a White House with broken windows, with broken stone that hasn't been painted in 30 years," Trump said.