For most steak lovers, there is no greater sin than overcooking a perfectly good rib-eye— a sin that Donald Trump has apparently committed.
Ruth Sherlock, an editor for the UK-based Daily Telegraph, claims to have encountered Trump and his family at a steakhouse in Manchester, N.H. the night before his victory in the New Hampshire primary. She says that Trump ordered the bone-in rib-eye for $54 and then asked it to be cooked — gasp! — well done.
#Trump had the bone in rib-eye at $54. He asked for it well done (!). Sat in corner booth with family. https://t.co/zeJqChuFG7 @Telegraph
— Ruth Sherlock (@Rsherlock) February 9, 2016
Trump’s order apparently had no beef with New Hampshire voters, as he cruised to an easy 20-point victory in the Granite State. But the steak community wasn’t ready to let him live it down. At Trump’s Wednesday rally at Clemson University in South Carolina, one heckler silently struck back.
Though most chefs would shudder at the New York billionaire’s steak order, that hasn’t stopped Trump from entering the beef business in the past. In 2007, the then reality star teamed up with Sharper Image for “Trump Steaks,” a meat-by-mail operation that pledged to send “The World’s Greatest Steaks” to your doorstep.
Trump has also opened a number of steakhouses at his hotels and resorts, one of which was closed due to health violations in 2012. According to theHuffington Post and the Associated Press, one of his steakhouses in Las Vegas was briefly shut down after inspectors found old caviar, yogurt and duck in the kitchen.
However, Trump may be in good company. In 2012, reports surfaced that then-Miami Heat star LeBron James preferred his steak cooked well done and pre-cut into pieces.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
