For most Americans July 4th is a day to celebrate independence. However, some Democrats prefer to use that day to throw tantrums.
Joey Chestnut believes July Fourth has a special meaning for him. It’s Chestnut’s day to defend his Nathan’s Hot Dog eating title.
He was already hobbled when he started. After sustaining a leg injury, he was unable to walk and had to use crutches. He also had to wear a cast on his right foot and a boot on the left.
Coney Island hot-dog eating champ Joey Chestnut will defend his title on crutches https://t.co/3B810P9cxw pic.twitter.com/45W6hxIwrl
— New York Post (@nypost) July 2, 2022
Chestnut claimed it was a tendon rupture but that he would be able “to stand up and eat.” He promised that he would eat like a madman and not with his leg.
Last year he managed to put away 76 hot dogs in just about ten minutes a new world record.
“When the barren hills and the cracked earth and the once-proud oceans drain to sand, there will still be a monument to our existence,” emcee and Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest host George Shea said of the reigning champ.
“This man represents all that is eternal in the human spirit.”
He had to overcome more than a tendon and crutches this year.
While Chestnut was putting away the hot dogs, a man charged up beside him, pushing him to the ground and waving a sign saying, “Expose Smithfield Death Star.” This was a protest against Smithfield’s food company. The next scene was amazing.
ESPN didn’t show the electric moment that glizzy gladiator Joey Chestnut put a protester in a chokehold 🌭🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/G5F5PsBffa
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) July 4, 2022
me to joey chesnut haters pic.twitter.com/xWYD8bo7Kg
— jr (#KnoxHive) (@SlXTYMELO) July 4, 2022
Joey Chestnut manhandles protester before record 15th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest win https://t.co/BdABWnGykj pic.twitter.com/C86XxoRrg7
— New York Post (@nypost) July 4, 2022
Chestnut was fortunate that he didn’t choke on a hotdog when a man shoved it into his face and it was also on the side of his injured leg.
Chestnut grabbed the neck of the protester and body-slammed it with some help from another man. Then, he continued to eat hot dogs and didn’t seem to stop.
Two other protestors were also present. You can see one of them being escorted off the stage by a police officer.
What is this protester(?) in the Storm Trooper mask holding an “Expose Smithfield’s Deathstar” sign doing at #NathansHotDogEatingContest pic.twitter.com/h6jXshv3j4
— Bobby Olivier (@BobbyOlivier) July 4, 2022
Despite being interrupted, Chestnut still managed to eat 63 hot dogs. Although his record is a bit lower than the previous year, it was still enough to win his 15th victory. He beat his closest competitor by 20 hotdogs, despite protestors.
