The White House turns into White Castle, a picture of the future president, and a flashback to the ’80s

Click the photo to see the national shame at full size.

No, this isn’t a scene from Idiocracy. This is the president* of the United States standing before an official dinner of fast food to commemorate the Clemson Tigers were invited to meet President Trump after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide to win the national collegiate football championship.

Here’s how he announced it:

Late-night comedians — who are now pretty much some of the best news sources in these debased, Trumpian times — had a field day with this:

The comedians weren’t the only people who thought that serving fast food wasn’t the best idea:

“We have everything that I like,” said Trump when he announced what he was serving at the dinner.

They did try to make it a slightly more formal event. “Candles make it classy!”

And they broke out some guest china:

Kudos to the players for dressing up for the event. It’s a shame that they were fed food that:

• They probably get on a regular basis, and
• thanks to all the necessary ceremony prior to the dinner, had gone cold. I’m not such a snob that I don’t like the occasional Big Mac, Whopper, or Wendy’s burger, but when they’re straight from the counter. After a half hour of sitting on a table without heat lamps, they’re not so good (especially Big Macs — the special sauce seems to know how to congeal in exactly the wrong way).

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the President of the United States of America, circa 2040:

The whole “burgers” thing reminds me of one of my favorite videogames from the ’80s, Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja. Your mission in the game is to rescue a kidnapped “President Ronnie”:

After many levels of ninja ass-kicking…

…you’re rewarded with this screen:

I used to think that this silly ending was the result of the Japanese developers misunderstanding American culture. It turns out that they understand it all too well.

Before the game rolls credits, you see the president with a burger in hand, posing for the photo op:

In case you’ve never seen the game in action (or if you need a nostalgia fix), here’s the gameplay: