Let them Eat Cake…or Fries

David Dermer/AP

"Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche", said to have been spoken in the 18th century by "a great princess" upon being told that the peasants had no bread. The French phrase is meant for brioche, a bread enriched with butter and eggs, considered a luxury food. The quote is taken to reflect either the princess's frivolous disregard for the starving peasants or her poor understanding of their plight. Or perhaps both.

Although the phrase is usually attributed to Marie Antoinette, who eventually lost her head. It can actually be traced back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions in 1765, published 24 years prior to the French Revolution. At that time Antoinette was only nine years old and had never been to France.

Things haven’t changed much.

Just last Tuesday, 259 years later, Ohio businessman Bernie Moreno, a Trump backed Republican candidate for US Senate, talked to supporters during his primary election night watch party in Westlake, Ohio. The Senate Republican, who won a costly and tough primary race last week in Ohio, continues to sidestep stating his beliefs of whether or not the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Pressed to say yes or no if it was stolen, he refused to answer directly as he entered the office of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. “Oh my gosh, are we talking about that? We’ve had like three elections since then,” he told reporters last week. “The reality is, we’re gonna look to the future. The people in Ohio, what they care about is when they go to McDonald’s, they can’t afford French fries.”

I’m guessing that the price of fries is not the most primary thought of the Ohio people. Or anyone in the United States in general. Perhaps the republicans are thinking more about why their political donations going to the twice impeached, convicted of fraud and defamation to an amount of over $500M, and 91 time indicted former president are being used to pay his hundreds of million dollars of legal fees.

“This is not the topic I think people think about,” he continued.

In January 2024, Moreno’s campaign released a digital ad in which Moreno looked directly into the camera and said, “President Trump says the election was stolen, and he’s right.” But then it was probably this statement and many others like it that gave him Trump’s backing in Ohio to help him win the primary.

But, maybe I’m wrong. The fries at McDonald’s are known to be some of the best of the fast food resaurants. And the former President Trump did serve them with Big Mac’s for the meal at the White House for an NCAA championship celebration.