The whole internet is uniting to roast conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks after he whined about airport meal prices despite apparently running up his own bill with his drink tab. That’s not too surprising, considering that Brooks is a pretty easy person to roast. While he claims to be a “moderate” conservative, that hasn’t stopped him from repeatedly spreading right-wing propaganda and making unsubstantiated claims, like dismissing the seriousness of the Trump-Russia scandal or claiming income inequality only impacts the very top and bottom of society. Many ponder how he retains his job at the New York Times when his articles are usually very lazy, poorly edited, and just outright bizarre.
In 2017, Brooks wrote an article titled “How We Are Ruining America,” arguing that “informal social barriers” segregate the lower class from other social classes. The example he used to illustrate this was as follows:
Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named “Padrino” and “Pomodoro” and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette. I quickly asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else and she anxiously nodded yes and we ate Mexican.
Of course, Brooks was dragged online for suggesting that fancy sandwich shops are the real barriers between the lower class and the upper middle class. Perhaps Brooks just needs to stay away from restaurants altogether because he’s now getting roasted all over again for another incident involving food.
David Brooks roasted for ridiculous airport meal post
On September 20, Brooks posted to X, formerly Twitter, complaining about the price of airport food. His caption sounded like it would be the thesis statement of his next New York Times article, as he wrote, “This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible.”
He paired the caption with a picture of a standard-looking burger and fries. Now, $78 would be a lot for just a burger and fries, but that’s not all that Brooks got. Smack dab in the middle of the photo is an impossible-to-miss sizeable glass of whiskey. While Brooks has no idea why his bill could be so high, we’re pretty sure it’s the glass of whiskey. (Also, it’s an airport! Food is expensive at airports; this isn’t news.)
The owner of a New Jersey Smokehouse BBQ, the same chain Brooks ate at in the airport, has spoken out, confirming that the burgers are only about $17 to $18 at the airport. The majority of Brooks’ bill was from his drink tab, meaning he probably had even more drinks than just that glass of whiskey.
Fortunately, the internet isn’t letting Brooks get away with trying to mislead people into thinking his burger cost $78 so he can use it to support his latest uninspired take on the U.S. economy. Even X’s community notes and the restaurant he ate at got in on the roasting.
Needless to say, the internet has been delivering since it learned Brooks lied about buying a $78 burger. It seems he thought that since no one apparently fact-checks his New York Times articles, it would be the same way with X. However, the internet has done its job, and Brooks will now have to scramble to find a new topic for his next article since “How Burgers Are Ruining America” likely won’t go over well with readers.
(featured image: James Leynse / Getty)
