Duck and cover! When shoes and tomatoes get thrown at world leaders

What is Donald Trump's biggest fear? Well, according to an exclusive piece published by The Daily Beast 2022, it's getting a pie thrown at his face.

Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen (pictured) declared that the New York mogul was so obsessed with getting custard on his face that he demanded anyone who dared to do so “end up in the hospital”.

The former president's obsession apparently stemmed from seeing Bill Gates getting a pie in his face while in Brussels in 1998, thrown by Belgian activist Noël Godin, seen here in 2021.

“For some reason, that upset Mr. Trump terribly. We were all instructed that if somebody was to ever throw anything at him, that if that person didn’t end up in the hospital, we'd all be fired”, Cohen revealed during the deposition.

Cohen also claims that Trump never brought up the possibility of a rock or a bottle. “It was always the pie thing”, the lawyer stated.

Image: Didi Miam / Unsplash

All of this happened in September 2015, when members of the Trump Tower security team violently beat protesters outside the building when Trump was running for President. The New York mogul denies any responsibility regarding the incident.

Of course, The Daily Beast revealed, under similar circumstances, that the 45th President of the United States was also fearful of an imminent attack of tomatoes.

The transcript of a 2015 deposition, recently made public and shared by The Washington Post among others, reveals that The Donald was afraid that protesters at a presidential campaign rally might throw fruit at him.

“They were going to throw fruit. We were threatened. We had a threat”, Trump is recorded saying during the official filing. He demanded that his security staff go after anyone throwing “dangerous fruit”.

“It's very dangerous stuff. You can get killed with those things”, remarked the former US President, highlighting that while tomatoes are dangerous, that just opens the way to more perilous produce.

“And some fruit is a lot worse than tomatoes”, commented Donald Trump, adding pineapples and bananas to his no-fruit list. “Tomatoes are bad, by the way. But it's very dangerous. They were going to hit very hard”.

Maybe Donald Trump is unto something. The very same week the 2015 deposition transcript was released, French President Emmanuel Macron was viciously attacked in Paris by plump, red projectiles that go well on toast with olive oil.

The recently reelected Macron survived the attack with the power of an umbrella. No official statement on the status of the tomatoes, though.

Other US Presidents have also had less than stellar encounters with things you usually find in a supermarket aisle. William Howard Taft got a cabbage tossed at him, which he quipped that “one of my opponents has lost its head”.

Fellow Republican Richard Nixon was reportedly received with “eggs, tomatoes, and vegetables” by an anti-Vietnam War protest in 1970, according to Politico.

Democratic politician Hillary Clinton, who ran against Donald Trump in 2016, go her fair share of makeshift gazpacho when protesters threw tomatoes at her motorcade in Egypt in 2012.

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was egged by a climate change protestor in Montreal in 2019. Trudeau also was pelted with gravel and had rocks thrown at him, which objectively are less tasty.

People, believe it or not, toss more things than salad ingredients. Barack Obama got a paperback book thrown at him by the author, hoping that the 44th President of the United States would read it. Talk about an aggressive promotion!

During a press conference in Baghdad in 2008, an Iraqi journalist threw both of his shoes at George W. Bush. The Republican President wasn’t harmed by the incident, though we don’t know how the perpetrator managed to walk back home.

What is it about tomatoes that make them so scary to Donald Trump? Well, on one hand, the former star of The Apprentice is a well-known Germaphobe. Allegedly, this is one of the reasons he prefers to eat fast food.

Maybe it's the implication. From an old-time way to show scorn towards performers and politicians (and those who have a bit of both) to modern-day movie reviewing websites, the rotten tomato serves as a symbol of public humiliation and general disdain.

The pie in the face is not that far behind, being a staple of comedies, such as 'The 3 Stooges', that with time turned into an irreverent way to leave the mighty into ridicule.

Image: Columbia Pictures

One memorable is evangelical performer Anita Bryant, who got a banana cream pie thrown at her by an activist due to her campaigning against LGBT rights in the late 1970s.

One thing is certain, don't expect seeing Donald Trump taking part on the Spanish festival of La Tomatina anytime soon!