Wealth management experts are traditionally supposed to help people hang on to their fortunes, so it’s no wonder that Twitter users are dragging one who says he spent $28 on a single lunch at Taco Bell.
Scott Martin, chief investment officer at Kingsview Partners, appeared on Fox Business on Wednesday to gripe about inflation. In the process, he seemed to indicate he didn’t understand the value of a dollar.
“You want to know how bad inflation is? Yesterday, yes, I had a nice lunch at Taco Bell — cost me about $28 at Taco Bell for lunch,” Martin said during the segment. ”People need to pay for those things, and they do that by getting jobs and getting in the economy and getting active and getting involved.”
Here’s a clip of the exchange, courtesy of Media Matters for America senior writer Eric Kleefeld.
Host Neil Cavuto was skeptical, and grilled Martin like he was one of the fast food chain’s $6.79 spicy double steak grilled cheese burritos.
“Wait a minute, you spent $28 at Taco Bell for just yourself?” Cavuto asked.
“For lunch, yeah. It’s true,” Martin responded.
He later posted a copy of the receipt to Twitter, and it showed that he indeed paid $25.40 for his Taco Bell lunch before tax.
Some Twitter users noted that Martin overpaid by a wide margin by not ordering a combo that would include a drink.
Others joked there might have been, ah, some mitigating circumstance Martin forgot to mention.
Stewart Mandel of The Athletic predicted that Martin’s receipt would launch a new trend.
And, of course, Taco Bell jumped in to boost the viral potential.
However, one writer who attempted to eat $28 worth of Taco Bell food strongly recommended against others following his example.
Although Martin used his Taco Bell lunch to warn about the dangers of inflation, Patrick Redford, who wrote about his own stomach-churning endeavor for Defector, noted that eating $28 of Taco Bell food made him wish inflation was even higher, “so that spending that much at Taco Bell would not be so physically hazardous.”
He added: “I am going to eat some digestive enzymes and pray to every deity I can think of for forgiveness and relief.”