Is this a joke? No, seriously, I thought this was a joke, but it looks like a legitimate story from the Washington Post. They actually did an analysis of the fast food spread President Trump had for the Clemson Tigers, who recently won the College Football Playoff National Championship. Trump had a delicious feast of McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King waiting for the champions. To normal Americans, this is fine. The government is shut down so the White House kitchen isn’t operating at full capacity. The president footed the bill for the meal. To the D.C. elites and the opposition media, this was a “bizarre” moment. It’s funny. Bill Clinton stuffed his face with burgers. And Barack Obama ate at Five Guys. Is that weird? To make things more absurd, they actually fact-checked Trump, saying the burgers weren’t piled a mile-high. They just had to do an analysis on this, and to their best estimation, it cost the president close to $3,000. Must be a slow news cycle:

I could listen to Trump talk about fast food all day pic.twitter.com/KqwQeXdDC4 — Barstool News Network (@BarstoolNewsN) January 14, 2019

In an administration overstuffed with bizarre moments and unusual events, Monday night’s celebration of the Clemson University Tigers at the White House nonetheless made a mark. The Tigers, who won the national college football championship after not having to play my alma mater Ohio State, had the traditional meeting with the president, enjoying remarks from South Carolina’s senators after retiring to the State Dining Room for a meal. A meal that was made up of fast food from various national chains. […] Using those same photographic sources, we then endeavored to tally how many of each item existed at the outset. There were a few complicating factors with this that bear mentioning. First, Wendy’s, unlike McDonald’s, makes it a bit tricky to determine what type of burger is contained in a particular package. The calculations below assume that the Wendy’s burgers are all doubles, that the chicken sandwiches are Wendy’s spicy chicken and that the salads are the Southwest (McDonald’s) and full BBQ Ranch Chicken (Wendy’s). The pizzas we figured were Domino’s Favorite Feast. […] In other comments, Trump — in true Trump fashion — suddenly more than tripled the hamburger count. FACT CHECK: At two inches each, a thousand burgers would not reach one mile high. Had Trump instead invested his entire net worth — $3.1 billion per Forbes last year — on $5 sandwiches, each two inches high? A stack of hamburgers nearly 20 miles high. It would require quite a large silver serving platter.

Trump says they bought "1,000 burgers" for Clemson. "It was piled up a mile high," he said pic.twitter.com/Nu8EfToB6R — Tom Schad (@Tom_Schad) January 14, 2019

Okay, that last part makes me think this was a joke, a poke at conservative media who love to highlight the liberal media’s endless string of failures when covering this White House. The silver platter remark, the analysis of the food, the calories, and the bill—it all reads troll bait to me. The liberal media is dense, but they’re not that thick. Okay—some definitely are, but I think this was an attempt at a joke.

If it was, it was not the best one since the liberal media has become so petty and hostile that they would fact-check the president over hamburgers. So, it’s an exercise in a lack of self-awareness. If this was indeed meant to be a serious story, then all is lost. The mainstream media has reached a new level of silliness not seen since CNN couldn’t report on Trump feeding koi fish accurately.

In the meantime, the Clemson football team celebrated their championship win and enjoyed their visit to the White House. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence said he had a tremendous time and hopes to be back again. Did you hear that Alabama fans?