Bennett Rea is the writer, chef and creator behind Cookin’ with Congress, the viral social media series with nearly half a million followers where he recreates unhinged recipes from politicians, eats like presidents, and connects to everyday people through the insanity of American food. His writing has been featured in Food & Wine, Business Insider, Atlas Obscura and Cracked, and he trained in improv at UCB Los Angeles and iO West. Bennett earned his BA in Politics and went on to work in F&B for six years before becoming a freelance writer and storyteller, focused specifically on environmental organizations. During that time, he started cooking the weird and wild real recipes of famous politicians and fell in love, creating Cookin’ with Congress in his free time.

Now, the video series garners 15 million views a month and has been featured on NPR, NBC California, Eater, The Los Angeles Times and many other outlets, blending history, satire, fun, education, joyous disgust and a true love for everyday folks while roasting (sometimes literally) the foods of powerful politicians. Bennett has been a collegiate guest speaker on multiple occasions, presenting on the nexus of food and politicians and the creative journey of being a full-time social media creator. He has appeared on television, radio, podcasts, and in print as an expert on this topic with an irreverent sense of humor. When Bennett was six years old, he wanted to be the President of the United States and a chef at the same time. This is close enough.