On May 29, 2011 celebrity pseudo-candidate former Gov. Sarah Palin kicked off her "One Nation" bus.  Palin reached New York City on June 1 and Donald Trump took her  out to lunch.  They went to Famous Famiglia, a pizza parlor in Times Square.


Trump addressed the lunch in one of his "From the Desk of Donald Trump" web videos: 

"Sarah Palin was on her bus tour all over the East Coast of the United States and she called me when she was in New Jersey.  She said let's get together for dinner, and I did that.  She came to Trump Tower and then we went to a pizza parlor with our families and had a really good time. 

"And a lot of people are asking about why am I using plastic forks and knives that the pizza parlor gave.  Well I don't walk around with forks and knives and frankly, it was very comfortable.  Plus this way you can take the top of the pizza off; you're not just eating the crust.  I like not to eat the crust so that we keep the weight down at least as good as possible.

"But she's a terrific woman.  We had a terrific time.  I don't know whether she's running or not.  I have a feeling that she might not be, but I was not able to figure that out.  I asked her very directly.  I'm not sure that she knows, but if she did run, I think she'd really be a factor.

"The one thing I can tell you.  She loves the United States, and she doesn't like what's happening to us right now."


Screen Grab

"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" did a 7-plus minute riff on the event.  "You know Donald, I don't want to say it, but if you're taking an esteemed visitor to get real New York pizza, Famiglia's ain't it," Stewart said.  Stewart describe the chain's offerings as "good convenience pizza," and went through a list of real pizza joints.  He took Trump to task, at length, for stacking his slices and for eating his pizza with a fork.