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?
pretty good this is really good, thanks for coming on the show man, back to you.\n\nreporter struggling with a mouthful of nasty food refusing to swallow trying to remain polite professional news anchor woman laughing at colleague eating disgusting south carolina fair hot dog meme— The Memes Archive (@The Memes Archive) 1697562521
Social media users instinctively knew it was a hard "no" from the reporter.
@AustinMD2011 He knew right at this moment it was a no \ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02— Hannah Drake (@Hannah Drake) 1697418453
@AustinMD2011 His eyes says it all \ud83e\udd23— paymeincrypto \ud83d\udcc8\ud83d\udcca (@paymeincrypto \ud83d\udcc8\ud83d\udcca) 1697417786
@AustinMD2011 LOOOOOOOOL!!!! He tried his best to cover and play it off. \ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02— Terrence Ford \ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc1d\ud83d\udc51 (@Terrence Ford \ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc1d\ud83d\udc51) 1697414286
@KDotTKL @AustinMD2011 Forgot where he was and started shaking his head no, then immediately started nodding \ud83d\ude06\ud83d\ude06\ud83d\ude06— Sick Ranchez \ud83e\udd2e (@Sick Ranchez \ud83e\udd2e) 1697437888
@AustinMD2011 This man was having an epic showdown with his taste buds \ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02— K-Dot The Kemist (@K-Dot The Kemist) 1697438039
@AustinMD2011 "So how's it taste?"\nHim:— Bangerang (@Bangerang) 1697492097
@AustinMD2011 Him as soon as the camera switched— GOATEDAURA (@GOATEDAURA) 1697439489
@AustinMD2011 Was waiting for a single tear— Tru Vice (@Tru Vice) 1697427421
@AustinMD2011 the cook smiling like he did sum good— try your best to be jayda wayda \ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfd (@try your best to be jayda wayda \ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfd) 1697416938
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.
@AustinMD2011 She knew instantly— diana\ud83c\udf6d (@diana\ud83c\udf6d) 1697428163
Gatson later remarked:
“Jalen is having a good time at the fair.”
But viewers knew she was holding back.
@nbhsoflobjj @AustinMD2011 The way she kept it together was all-pro \ud83e\udd23— Master ONeal (@Master ONeal) 1697426292
@nbhsoflobjj @AustinMD2011 She knew\u2026. \ud83d\ude01\ud83d\ude01\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02— E says: (@E says:) 1697429005
@nbhsoflobjj @AustinMD2011 Says it all!! \ud83d\ude02\ud83e\udd23\ud83d\ude02— BeTruthful_Jn1717 (@BeTruthful_Jn1717) 1697423236
@nbhsoflobjj @AustinMD2011 This right here said everything lmao \ud83e\udd23— Will Scott (@Will Scott) 1697421280
@nbhsoflobjj @AustinMD2011 And thus a new meme is born \ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02— \u201cwear your masss\u201d (@\u201cwear your masss\u201d) 1697419078
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.
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