Last Friday, when President Donald Trump cut a cake at one of his inaugural balls, the towering confection became an unlikely source of controversy. Baker to the stars, Duff Goldman, took to Twitter in disbelief because Trump’s cake was the spitting image of the one he made for Barack Obama’s inaugural ball in 2013.
This prompted Trump’s baker, Washington D.C.’s Buttercream Bakeshop, to come forward and admit the cake was inspired by Obama’s. “Excited to share the cake we got to make for one of last night’s inaugural balls,” the bakeshop said in an Instagram post. “While we most love creating original designs, when we are asked to replicate someone else’s work we are thrilled when it is a masterpiece like this one @duff_goldman originally created this for Obama’s inauguration 4 years ago and this year’s committee commissioned us to re-create it.”
In the post, Buttercream Bakers also announced they were donating all profits from the cake to the Human Rights Campaign — the largest LGBTQ rights organization in the US. “Best part is all the profits are being donated to @humanrightscampaign, one of our favorite charities who we have loved working with over the years,” the bakery said on Instagram. “Because basic human rights are something every man, woman and child~ straight, gay or the rainbow in between deserve!”
The bakery’s decision to donate money to a pro-LGBT cause is an act of defiance given Vice-President Mike Pence’s history of supporting homophobic policies. In 2015, he signed a “religious freedom bill” that made it legal for businesses to discriminate against members of the LGBT community. He has also said that gay couples signaled a “societal collapse,” opposed the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy, and said keeping gays from marrying was the enforcement of “god’s idea.” Well played, Buttercream Bakers.