PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The governor of the nation’s top cheese-producing state visited the capital of cheesesteaks on Tuesday and ordered two topped with American, skipping the customary Cheez Whiz but avoiding the blunder of a former presidential candidate who was ridiculed for wanting his with Swiss.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker told Geno’s Steaks owner Geno Vento he’s had cheesesteaks with Cheez Whiz in Philadelphia before and would have been dripping the orange goo if he ordered his the usual way.
“That’d be your trademark,” Vento, the son of Geno’s founder Joey Vento, joked as Walker signed a book filled with autographs of other dignitaries and celebrities who have indulged in the Philly delicacy.
Walker ordered one each from Geno’s and rival Pat’s King of Steaks, across the street, during a brief campaign swing through the City of Brotherly Love. He’s one of 16 Republicans vying for the party’s presidential nomination and, true to political form, wouldn’t say which cheesesteak was better.
Despite his cheese change-up, Walker still fared better than John Kerry, the former U.S. senator from Massachusetts and current U.S. secretary of state, who ordered Swiss on his cheesesteak during his unsuccessful 2004 run for president.