Trump’s ‘Great Gatsby’ party is an apt metaphor for the times

The 42 million Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — commonly known as food stamps — shouldn’t have to worry about being hungry. Nor should they be waiting in long lines at food banks. Like healthcare, access to food should be a right in this country — not a privilege.

But President Donald Trump didn’t let concerns about hunger in America stop him from having a good old time at his Great Gatsby-themed party Saturday night. On the very night SNAP benefits were scheduled to end, he was photographed hobnobbing with his well-heeled guests at Mar-A-Lago.

Meanwhile, LaShanda Palmer was at home in Landsdowne, trying to figure out how to feed her family. Palmer, 50, is employed at Philadelphia International Airport, but hasn’t gotten a paycheck since the federal government shut down Oct. 1. Palmer, who works for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), recently had to accept donations from a food pantry. “It’s embarrassing,” Palmer told me as she choked back tears.

I don’t have any doubt Palmer would have loved to dress up and head out to a party, too, on Saturday night, as U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro did — sporting an updo and a floor-length gown at Trump’s event.

Finances are extremely tight right now for Palmer, who serves as president of Local 333 of the American Federation of Government Employees. She would have applied for SNAP benefits herself. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program, announced last month that the program would freeze payments on Nov. 1 because of the shutdown.

After two judges ordered the Trump administration to keep the program running, I naively assumed the crisis was over. But on Monday, Trump announced that only partial benefits would go out this month.

Then, in defiance of the court orders, the president turned around the next day and threatened to withhold all SNAP payments until the shutdown ends — a statement that White House press secretary Karoline Levitt walked back hours later, saying benefits will go out using contingency funding.

Trump couldn’t be more ill-suited for a moment like this.

The fact that he would host a party Saturday glorifying the Roaring ’20s, which was a time of tremendous income inequality, shows just how insensitive and out of touch he really is.

Roughly 42 million people depend on SNAP, the nation’s largest food assistance program. Many recipients are employed but don’t earn a livable wage. Others are elderly or unemployed. Ensuring SNAP benefits get in the hands of every needy person should be the president’s highest priority — not entertaining guests in Florida, or Trumpifying the White House.

On Friday, the president posted photos on social media showing off the floor-to-ceiling white-and-black marble and gaudy gold fixtures recently installed in the Lincoln bathroom. He has already demolished the entire East Wing of the White House to make way for a gold-trimmed ballroom more befitting one of his private golf resorts than the White House’s traditional aesthetic.

As for Palmer, her rent is due. She needs $1,375 to pay her landlord for the month of November. A mother of five, she has two children who still live at home, plus a 6-year-old granddaughter.

When I asked her if she had relatives who could help her out, she said, “I’m the one who helps everybody else.”

Palmer’s situation is similar to that of millions of federal workers, government contractors, and SNAP recipients struggling because of the government shutdown. It’s dragged on way too long.

Republicans blame Democrats, who have refused to support a funding bill to reopen the government without an extension of subsidies to continue funding the Affordable Care Act. Without them, insurance costs will skyrocket. Republicans have insisted the government reopen before they negotiate on healthcare.

Despite the impasse, lawmakers continue to get paid.

Palmer has gone without her medication in an effort to save money; her bills are in arrears, and her nerves are seriously frayed. “We don’t know how long TSA officers can go without a paycheck,” she said.

“Because they’re hurting,” she said. I pray it’s over soon.