除了一个明显的例外，共和党人已经确定了一个民粹主义的收官信息：巴拉克·奥巴马周末开玩笑说，总统“把白宫搞得像萨达姆·侯赛因开了一家芝士蛋糕工厂”，这是对中产阶级美国人的严重侮辱。唉，唯一似乎无法配合这一信息的共和党人就是唐纳德·特朗普。
The Republican Party, with one notable exception, has settled on a populist closing message: Barack Obama’s weekend joke that the president has “got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory” represents a grave insult to middle-class Americans. Alas, the sole Republican who appears unable to cooperate with this message is Donald Trump.
实际上，奥巴马的笑话主要针对的是特朗普和那位伊拉克前独裁者共有的俗艳审美。而且，即便这个笑话没有提到萨达姆，暗示芝士蛋糕工厂那种夸张的装饰——虽然作为一家人大嚼一盘炸通心粉配奶酪的背景完全合适——不适合椭圆形办公室的品味，也很难说是对芝士蛋糕工厂的挖苦。而且，即便奥巴马真的犯了什么失言，共和党人试图把选举变成对一个既（1）不在选票上、（2）又是美国在世最受欢迎的政治人物的对手的攻击，也显得很奇怪。
In reality, Obama’s crack was mainly aimed at the gaudy aesthetic shared by Trump and the former Iraqi dictator. And even if the joke had not mentioned Saddam, it is hardly a swipe at the Cheesecake Factory to suggest that its campy decor, while perfectly suitable as a backdrop for a family munching on a plate of fried macaroni and cheese, is an inappropriate sensibility for the Oval Office. And even if Obama had committed a genuine gaffe, it seems odd for Republicans to try to make the election about an opponent who is (1) not on the ballot and (2) the most popular living politician in America.
但是，当你的政党主持了不断上升的通货膨胀和一场失败的选择性战争时，信息传递的选择并不好。而这个伪丑闻确实有一个好处，就是帮助共和党人把话题从特朗普痴迷于给白宫镀金转移到民主党的精英主义上。于是，共和党的各路喉舌纷纷站出来，代表那些被奥巴马如此恶毒诽谤的朴实芝士蛋糕工厂食客表达愤慨。
But when your party has presided over rising inflation and a failed war of choice, the messaging options aren’t great. And this pseudo-scandal does have the benefit of helping Republicans change the subject from Trump’s obsession with gilding the White House to Democratic elitism. So various GOP mouthpieces have come forward to express their indignation on behalf of the salt-of-the-earth Cheesecake Factory diners that Obama had so viciously slandered.
“这恰恰说明了民主党为什么失去了中产阶级，为什么失去了蓝领选民。因为这是一种典型的‘ cling 枪支和宗教’式的言论，它让这个国家很多人反感，”福克斯新闻的玛莎·麦卡勒姆解释道。“致克利夫兰、大急流城以及更远地方的所有那些餐馆食客，这是奥巴马先生传达的信息：多么低级，”《华尔街日报》社论写道。财政部长斯科特·贝森特不甘示弱，出现在一家芝士蛋糕工厂门前对记者说：“我会告诉玛莎葡萄园岛那帮人自己去试试，”仿佛奥巴马批评的是这家餐厅的食物。
“It goes exactly to why Democrats lost the middle class, why they lost blue-collar voters. Because it’s kind of a guns-and-religion clinging kind of comment, and it turns a lot of people in this country off,” explained Fox News’ Martha MacCallum. “To all of those diners in Cleveland, Grand Rapids, and beyond, here’s Mr. Obama’s message: How déclassé,” editorialized The Wall Street Journal. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, not to be outdone, appeared in front of a Cheesecake Factory and told reporters, “I would tell the Martha’s Vineyard set to give it a try,” as if Obama had criticized the restaurant’s food.
这种装腔作势是美国政治中一种熟悉的仪式。我们的候选人出生在简陋的小木屋里，得到普通民众的支持，而你们的候选人是特权之子，代表贵族阶层。然而，由于特朗普骨子里是精英主义者，他一直难以驾驭民粹主义的剧本。
This posturing is part of a familiar ritual in American politics. Our candidate was born in a humble log cabin and has the backing of the common people, whereas your candidate is the son of privilege and represents the aristocracy. Because he is instinctively elitist, however, Trump has always struggled with the populist script.
在被选为权威人士所描绘的民粹主义起义的领袖之后，他有时会对敌人构成精英阶层的说法感到恼火。“他们凭什么算精英？”他在第一个任期内说。“我的公寓比他们好得多。我比他们聪明。我比他们有钱。我当上了总统，而他们没有。”他会在集会上对支持者说：“你们才是精英。他们不是精英。”当目标是非裔时，特朗普似乎尤其难以假装民粹主义。
After being elected as the leader of what pundits depicted as a populist uprising, he would sometimes bristle at the notion that his enemies constituted an elite. “Why are they elite?” he said during his first term. “I have a much better apartment than they do. I’m smarter than they are. I’m richer than they are. I became president, and they didn’t.”He would tell his supporters at rallies, “You are the elite. They’re not the elite.”Trump seems to have an especially difficult time feigning populism when the target is Black.
在白宫记者团中被记者问及奥巴马的嘲讽时，特朗普攻击奥巴马低级且愚蠢。“他注意不到那些没被清理的污垢和脏东西，那些墙壁多年没擦过的地方，”特朗普说。“我们得向奥巴马解释这一点，因为他不明白，因为他不是个聪明人。”把奥巴马攻击为一个脱离现实的沿海精英，而不是一个弄脏了 pristine 住宅的贫民窟居民，这个概念显然是特朗普的种族主义头脑无法处理的。
Asked by a reporter at the White House gaggle about Obama’s gibe, Trump attacked Obama as low-class and dumb. “He doesn’t notice dirt and filth that hadn’t been cleaned, where the walls hadn’t been cleaned for years,” Trump said. “We have to explain that to Obama because he doesn’t understand it, because he’s not a smart guy.”Attacking Obama as an out-of-touch coastal elitist, rather than a slum-dweller who dirtied up a pristine home, is a concept that Trump’s mind is apparently too racist to process.
特朗普也无法勉强自己假装认为，简陋的白宫若能拥有像芝士蛋糕工厂——中产阶级的圣殿——那样奢华而体面的内部装潢，就算是走运了。相反，他发表了一段长达500字的独白，讲述自己监督进行的宫殿式翻修工程。
Nor could Trump bring himself to pretend to think that the humble White House would be lucky to have decor as luxurious and dignified as the inside of a Cheesecake Factory, the veritable temple of the middle class. Instead, he delivered a 500-word monologue about the palatial renovations he had overseen.
“我请了世界上最顶尖的工匠来修缮它，”他说。“我用最高水平、最有才华的人把这座建筑重新装饰得美轮美奂。全世界任何地方，你都找不到比这更有才华的人。”如果说特朗普的盟友试图打消人们的一种印象——即总统过度专注于改善自己的住所，而牺牲了其他职责——那么特朗普似乎急于证实这一点。事实上，他极力强调这项工程耗费了巨大的时间和金钱。
“I fixed it with the finest artisans in the world,” he said. “I’ve reskinned the building beautifully with the highest, most talented people. Anywhere in the world, you’re not going to find more talent.”If Trump’s allies were trying to dispel the impression that the president was overly focused on improving his own residence at the expense of his other duties, Trump appeared eager to confirm it. Indeed, he emphasized the great time and expense the work had consumed.
在昨晚的一场集会上，特朗普又回到了奥巴马关于芝士蛋糕的“诽谤”上，同时一如既往地随即证实了其核心内容。“他对我非常挑剔，因为我花了时间，”他对人群说。随后，他用了几分钟时间，事无巨细地讲述翻修工程的种种细节——这恰恰证实而非反驳了他痴迷于该工程的印象。他再次吹嘘自己雇用了“你见过的最好的工匠”。
At a rally last night, Trump returned to Obama’s Cheesecake slander, while characteristically proceeding to substantiate the gist of it. “He was very critical of me, because I spend time,” he told the crowd. He then spent several minutes walking through the renovations in tedious detail—confirming, rather than rebutting, the impression that he is obsessed with the project. He repeated his boast that he employed “the best artisans you’ve ever seen.”
他还抱怨说，他继承的这座建筑里所用的材料，看起来像是来自那种向辛勤工作的普通美国人出售家居用品的商店。“我们拆掉了破碎的瓷砖，那是——我的意思是，我不想说是来自家得宝，但它确实是从一个盒子里拿出来的，配不上白宫。”特朗普不仅再一次未能将奥巴马抨击为势利小人、并把自己塑造成芝士蛋糕无产阶级的捍卫者，反而走向了相反的方向。他贬低奥巴马是个十足的土包子，竟然会满足于用可能来自家得宝这样低档商店的瓷砖来装饰白宫。
And he complained that the building he inherited contained materials that looked as if they came from a store that sold home items to hardworking, ordinary Americans. “We took tile that was broken, that was—I mean, I don’t want to say from Home Depot, but it does come from a box, and it’s not for the White House.”Not only did Trump once again fail to assail Obama as a snob and pose as the champion of the Cheesecake proletariat, but he went in the opposite direction. He dismissed Obama as such a rube that he would settle for appointing the White House with tile that could have come from a store as low-class as Home Depot.