Blame it on the brain melt. But after seven years on the beat, during which Donald Trump effectively destroyed any semblance of a normal media, I find myself somewhat impervious to Fox News clips. The insidious racism, manufactured outrage, harmful public health advice. None of it seems to shock me anymore. But then this afternoon, a clip went viral—and it felt personal.
I've been a fan of the Cheesy Gordita Crunch since my teenage years, a time when you could eat such a thing ten times over and still feel spritely. Those days are behind me now, but I make time for a CGC stop during every road trip. So I was disappointed to see a Fox News contributor, a supposed business expert, make such outlandish claims about a beloved restaurant in order to continue the network's inflation screaming.
As my colleague Jeremy Schulman noted, the clip struck some "serious crudités vibes," a reference to Dr. Mehmet Oz's much-maligned campaign video in which he stumbled into the grocery to complain that inflation was ruining his fancy appetizers. Cosplaying as the everyday man is a time-honored tradition for conservatives and frankly most politicians seeking office. But it always seems as though it's the Oz's of the world that have to do it so obnoxiously.
Of course, I can't say for sure whether this Fox News contributor was fibbing. Perhaps he really did spend $28 on lunch at Taco Bell. But if that's the case, well then, as one CNN reporter elegantly put it, "Prayer circle for this guy's toilet."
—Inae Oh