President Joe Biden (I’ll never get sick of saying that) has, just hours after his inauguration, nixed the red Diet Coke button from the Oval Office.
ICYMI: Donald Trump had a little red button installed on a wooden box. When pressed, a staff member would arrive with a Diet Coke on a silver platter. The New York Times wrote in 2017 that 74-year-old Trump would drink a dozen of the fizzy boys a day.
But Times Radio reporter Tom Newtown Dunn wrote on Twitter that the button had been removed from the Pres’ office, saying he had interviewed Trump in 2019 and had been “fascinated by what the little red button did.”
I guess 78-year-old Joe’s more of a sparkling water kinda guy?
President Biden has removed the Diet Coke button. When @ShippersUnbound and I interviewed Donald Trump in 2019, we became fascinated by what the little red button did. Eventually Trump pressed it, and a butler swiftly brought in a Diet Coke on a silver platter. It’s gone now. pic.twitter.com/rFzhPaHYjk
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) January 21, 2021
Incoming presidents each change the decor of the Oval Office to their liking, to represent their distinct presidency. President Joe Biden, as reported by The Washington Post, has filled the Oval Office with pics and busts of American historical figures, including a big-ass portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt hanging across from his desk, and busts of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy by the fireplace.
But y’know, we could focus on that symbolism, or we could collectively grieve Trump’s greedy Diet Coke legacy. That’s what the internet did anyway:
I would’ve paid so much money to get to be in the room for the conversation that I imagine went like:
BIDEN: ok what’s next
STAFFER: setting up the Oval. Photos are all done. Do you want to keep the Diet Coke button?
BIDEN:
STAFFER:
BIDEN: the what in god’s name button https://t.co/cDhkmqzjr5
— Emmy Bengtson (@EmmyA2) January 21, 2021
Wait this was a real thing pic.twitter.com/BLoFGEC94m
— Brett Meiselas (@BMeiselas) January 21, 2021
On his first day as President, Joe Biden was expected to overturn a number of Trump’s worst policies and to put in place some of his own initiatives, including ending the Muslim travel ban, better coordinating the US’ government pandemic response, and rejoining both the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organisation.
RIP the presidential Diet Coke button, long live the extension of the eviction moratorium and student loan forbearance. Catchy, no?
