Why NYT columnist David Brooks facing insults on social media?

The conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks posted on social media, complaining about the price of food at Newark airport in New Jersey, which would ironically prove to be costly.

Brooks tweeted a photo of his meal — a burger, fries, and an unidentified drink — at the Newark airport, along with a gripe about how much it cost. His tweet read: “This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible”.

However, social media users were quick to fact-check his claim. The Community Notes section on X noted that “based on the similar table, glass, chair, sheet, and cut of fries, this is the Smokehouse Restaurant in Newark Airport Terminal A. The burger and fries cost $17”. Many commenters pointed out what appeared to be a stiff drink in Brooks’ photo and noted that airport booze isn’t cheap.

Criticism on social media comments

Unfortunately, large numbers of his followers on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, decided to look into his complaint, and they found that large percentages of Americans believe the economy is terrible, putting Brooks, a conservative whose books include The Road to Character and The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life, at a disadvantage.

The bill for his hamburger and a tall glass of whiskey handed to him left the political commentator in a state of "sticker shock", which he imagined ordinary people experience when they visit the grocery store.

"But I wrote the tweet so foolish, and it made it seem like I was oblivious to something that is blindingly obvious: that an upper-middle-class journalist having a bourbon at an airport is a lot different than a family living paycheck to paycheck," Brooks told William Brangham on PBS.

“I was insensitive. I screwed up, I should not have written that tweet, I probably should not write any tweets, I made a mistake. It was foolish.”

Jacob Bacharach, a novelist and critic, wrote: “A typical airport burger and fries is in the $18 range; a typical double … whiskey rocks is in the $20 range. Solve for x: 18+20x=78.”

Reactions on social media

• "So $17 of food and $61 of booze?” joked one.
• “Rx $45 in Whiskey, tax and tip…,” tweeted another.
• “It’s the markup on alcohol, brother. Economy is solid for those moving spirits at the airport,” advised a third.

In response to the controversy, Brooks acknowledged that his tweet was insensitive and a mistake. He explained that his tweet was intended as a joke, highlighting the high cost of his airport dinner in relation to the everyday struggles faced by American families due to inflation.

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