New York Times columnist David Brooks continues to be roasted on social media, and we are totally here for it.
When last we left you, the purportedly struggling writer, once inaccurately described by someone, somewhere once upon a time as a “moderate conservative,” was busy taking a picture of his burger and fries combo – complete with what looked to be an alcoholic beverage (never cheap at airports) – from a Newark Liberty International airport restaurant and posting it to the Twitter machine, complaining that the $78 price tag for his “meal” was “why Americans think the economy is terrible.”
For those who missed it or who otherwise want a good laugh all over again, here’s what he posted Wednesday:
This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible. pic.twitter.com/1qeV9qOBL3
— David Brooks (@nytdavidbrooks) September 21, 2023
As we also noted at the time, it didn’t take long at all for intrepid Twitter sleuths to do some detective work and figure out that the meal itself was only around $18, and that it was the drink – or drinks – that drove up the tab to nearly $80.
Maurice Hallett, the owner of 1911 Smoke House BBQ, confirmed as much in a New York Post interview, telling the paper that Brooks likely had “two doubles,” which would have been around $28 each. Two of those along with their burger/fries meal adds up to around $74.
In their first Facebook response to the viral tweet, the restaurant wrote, “Looks like someone was knocking back some serious drinks. Bar tab was almost 80% and he’s complaining about the cost of his meal.”
The update to this story, as it turns out, might even be more hilarious than the initial reactions to Brooks’ infamous tweet, which now has over 33 million views as of this writing and which has also been Community Noted.
1911 Smoke House BBQ has added a “David Brooks Special” to their menu in honor of Brooks, where travelers can get a burger, fries, and a double shot of whiskey for just under $18. The hashtag they used? “#youcantbeatourmeat”:
They also had a little fun with reviewers as well, including one who wanted to take the “David Brooks challenge”:
One Twitter user quipped that Brooks was “charged extra” because “he demands the waiters have perfect creases in their pants,” a reference to a 2005 story where Brooks bizarrely recalled meeting then-Senator Barack Obama and being impressed with, among other things, the “perfect” crease in his pant leg:
That first encounter is still vivid in Brooks’s mind. “I remember distinctly an image of–we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at his pant leg and his perfectly creased pant,” Brooks says, “and I’m thinking, a) he’s going to be president and b) he’ll be a very good president.”
Obama did indeed go on to be president. As for Brooks, he went on to do what Obama never could (and never really wanted to): unite the country against an elitist fop who gives “out of touch” a whole new meaning.
