How Republicans Made Olive Garden Into a Voter ID Talking Point
Republicans claim that Olive Garden polices its Never-Ending Pasta Bowl more tightly than the United States does its elections. It’s not that simple.
Michael Gold reported from the Capitol. His family celebrated most birthdays and holidays at Olive Garden.
Last week, President Trump gave a speech at the White House in which he made exaggerated claims about election vulnerabilities to pressure the Senate to push through a stalled voting restriction bill that would impose strict new voter identification requirements nationwide.
That same week, the pasta behemoth Olive Garden brought back its popular Never-Ending Pasta Pass, and informed customers that a photo ID would be needed to use it.
Thanks to a social media post — what else? — these two separate, seemingly unrelated events became intertwined, as Republicans spun up a buzzy but misleading talking point claiming that Olive Garden polices its bottomless pasta deal more tightly than the United States does its elections.
The claim misrepresents both voter ID laws and the multibillion-dollar casual dining chain’s rules surrounding unlimited breadsticks and limitless spaghetti. But it has nevertheless circulated wildly online, at the Capitol and at the White House, in the latest example of a corroded political discourse that often trivializes the weightiest topics, like comparing voting rights to fettuccine.
