President Joe Biden hosted French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Thursday for the first White House dinner of his presidency.
The guest list for the super-sized event under a tent on the White House grounds included some of the political elite, journalists, Hollywood celebrities, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Biden’s son Hunter Biden.
The tables were covered with dark blue silk cloths and adorned with roses and irises, which are the official flower of France.
The menu included butter-poached Maine lobster, beef with shallot marmalade, caviar, squash, ravioli, sunchoke and creamed watercress, American artisanal cheeses, and triple-cooked butter potatoes. The dessert was orange chiffon cake and creme fraiche ice cream.
200 live lobsters were shipped from Maine to the White House yesterday morning to prep the butter-poached lobster course of tomorrow night’s State Dinner … per Chef Comerford. @FLOTUS in background pic.twitter.com/Lvt6jBMapC
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) November 30, 2022
These extravagances come as inflationary pressure continues to make day-to-day expenses difficult for ordinary Americans to afford, and economists predict that America is headed into a recession if it isn’t in one already.
U.S. GDP declined by 1.6% in the first quarter and by 0.9% as compared to the previous year in the second quarter, meeting the traditional definition of a recession.
Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, says he believes the U.S. is headed for a “whopper” of a recession in 2023.
The main course of lobster also caused tempers to flare in Maine as officials pointed out the hypocrisy of the Biden administration serving and enjoying the delicacy while pushing federal regulations that could kill the industry.
So Biden served 200 Maine lobsters to his criminal son & other sleazy guests, including @GOPLeader McCarthy, at the White House ON YOUR DIME & then he tells Maine lobster fisherman to stop, that they are hurting whales by providing HIM dinner. Does the hypocrisy EVER end? 🤷♂️
— 🇺🇸 The FJC 🇺🇸 (Same on Truth!) (@The_FJC) December 2, 2022
Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) tweeted, “If the Biden White House can prioritize purchasing 200 Maine lobsters for a fancy dinner, @POTUS should also take the time to meet with the Maine lobstermen his administration is currently regulating out of business.”
In September, Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch added American and Canadian lobster fisheries to its “red list” of species because of its alleged impact on the sustainability of the endangered right whale.
Maine lobstermen say that the last time a right whale was caught in a lobster net was 18 years ago.
In a tweet, Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) urged the Biden administration to “recognize that all Maine lobstermen want is the opportunity to continue providing this product for people” without the Federal government “crushing them under the weight of burdensome, scientifically-questionable regulations.”
