On Friday, aka Halloween, American President Donald Trump was busy throwing a lavish bash, which was labelled “A Little party Never Killed Anybody, alluding to a song off the Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer The Great Gatsby‘s soundtrack. While he was tied up at the extravagant affair, a dark cloud of uncertainty overshadowed the funding backing crucial food stamp benefits aiding millions of low-income Americans.

According to the US Department Agriculture’s website, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were paused on November 1 due to the current situation. However, the federal judges’ rulings on the same day as Trump’s Halloween party ordered the Trump admin to use $5.25 billion in contingency funds to go on with SNAP regardless of the shutdown. With a limited number of days on their side as the deadline to make a move, the US president turned his attention to a a Great Gatsby-themed party at his exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort.

Trump’s Gatsby Halloween party in hot water amid govt shutdown

From dancers in flapper dresses to burlesque dancers in giant martini glasses, attention-grabbing snaps from the event went viral on social media over the weekend. Guests decked in full attires that screamed the “Roaring 20’s.” Showgirls were also caught on camera dancing their hearts out as Trump and State Secretary Marco Rubio engaged in an interaction, according to the Telegraph.

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Social media, along with furious Democrats, were quick to call out the hypocritical imbalances, labelling the soiree out-of-touch and tone-deaf. “PatriotTakes,” a page dedicated to “exposing right-wing extremism” on X, was one such account to question the president’s decision to host such a party while millions of people were on the brink of losing their benefits.

“Dancers at Trump’s Halloween party as people begin losing food stamps under his administration,” the page wrote on X, while sharing footage of showgirls dancing around a room occupied by Trump and other officials. Sharing a different post, the same page tweeted, “Dessert spread at Mar-a-Lago as Americans begin losing food stamps under Trump.”

Another account called MeidasTouch posted a video of a beaming Trump chatting with other diners at the events. “Trump is holdign a Great Gatsby/Roaring 20s-themed party at his private club in Palm Beach tonight as he tried to withhold SNAP and health care subsidies from millions of Americans,” they wrote along with the clip.

Politicians slam Trump’s Halloween party

Trump’s constant critic and Florida Governor Gavin Newsom joined the viral chatter. Sharing a snap of the US president sitting alongside fellow diners Marco Rubio and the newly-appointed US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, even Newsom tore the MAGA leader a new one.

“Donald Trump hosted a Great Gatsby party while SNAP benefits were about to disappear for 42 million Americans,” he wrote online. “He does not give a damn about you.”

Similarly, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said on X, The way he rubs his inhumanity in Americans’ face never ceases to stun me. He’s illegally refusing to pay food stamp benefits……while he throws a ridiculously over the top Gatsby party for his right wing millionaire and corporate friends.”

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Trump’s Gatsby party vs SNAP benefits issue compared to Hunger Games

Several other users couldn’t help but compare the inequity between those at Trump’s party and those hoping their SNAP benefits would stick to a similar divide portrayed in the popular dystopian franchise Hunger Games.

In a TikTok video, a user again pointed towards the gap between Trump and his millionaire friends at Mar-a-Lago, and millions of Americans being “kicked off of food assistance and being priced out of the health insurance market.” Turning back to the 1920s, he said that even at the time “the party came before the crash.” Here, he is a referring to the “Roaring Twenties,” an era defined by economic prosperity, that directly preceded the Great Depression bringing forth a time of worldwide hardship.

“This time, the crash is already here and they’re still toasting themselves as it happens,” the TikTok creator went on. “Different century, same greed.” The same post shared on X came along with the tweet: “Hunger Games becomes reality: Trump hosts Gatsby-themed Halloween party on same night that SNAP benefits are to be defunded and healthcare prices rise.”

Yet another post called out: “Trump has turned America into the Hunger Games. Extravagant millionaire parties while people starve.”

And then another anti-Trump page on the platform spoke out: “Why does Trumps Halloween party feel like the parties the elites from Hunger Games would have?”