A South Carolina reporter went viral after he tried his darnedest to conceal his reaction to eating a Polish-style hot dog at the Columbia State Fair and failed to convince viewers he was a satisfied customer.
Jalen Tart, who works for WIS-TV, was covering the goings on at the fair and took a bite of the staple comfort food on air while the aproned guy who presumably prepared it for him stood by waiting for his approval.
After taking the first bite, Tart shook his head and then quickly nodded as he continued chewing. He said:
“Pretty good...Pretty pretty good.”
Was it, though?
Social media users instinctively knew it was a hard "no" from the reporter.
When the clip cut back to the studio, it appeared Tart's review of the hot dog hadn't fooled news anchor Judi Gatson.
Her expression was very telling.
Gatson later remarked:
“Jalen is having a good time at the fair.”
But viewers knew she was holding back.
After his viral fame, Tart sat down with a colleague who wanted to know what he really thought of the hot dog.
"Jalen, the people want to know. You're here to set the record straight," said Billie Jean Shaw, before asking, "Was the Polish dog good, or did it not taste good?"
Tart replied:
"So, a lot of you all have been asking me 'was it good' or 'was it not good' on social media...It was decent."
When asked what was going through his mind when he took that first bite, he said:
"So, I had the dog in my hand and it was a lot of ingredients."
"I love eating foods and I wanted to have every bit of flavor in my mouth so I just took too big of a bite, and that's what ended up happening."
Tart then admitted to learning his lesson about biting off more than he can chew.
You can try the hot dog and judge for yourself at the Columbia State Fair, which is open until October 22.
@BosniaNTBall/X
@BosniaNTBall/X
@theecoobadass/Bluesky
@BosniaNTBall/X
New York Post
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social