Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Has Media Clucking Over Its Return

There’s an impeachment inquiry on the President of the United States. There’s the NFL. A fall TV season. A new Terminator film.

But the big story of the day among the media – Popeyes is back with its chicken sandwich.

From CBS News to Forbes, People to CNN, the media has is clucking over the return of America’s most coveted chicken sandwich. Because of intense demand, the item disappeared two weeks after its mid-August debut, leaving some stores dealing with angry customers.

Today, all is forgiven, if not forgotten, as the sandwich is back and ready for consumption. Stores have reportedly hired extra staff to meet demand, and remote trucks are rolling to capture the feeding frenzy at area locations.

A few of the media fans:

McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook ousted after relationship with employee

NEW YORK — McDonald’s chief executive officer has left the company after violating company policy by engaging in a consensual relationship with an employee, the corporation said Sunday.

The fast food giant said former president and CEO Steve Easterbrook demonstrated poor judgment. McDonald’s forbids managers from having romantic relationships with direct or indirect reports.

In an email to employees, Easterbrook acknowledged he had a relationship with an employee and said it was a mistake.

“Given the values of the company, I agree with the board that it is time for me to move on,” Easterbrook said in the email.

McDonald’s MCD, -1.40%  board of directors voted on Easterbrook’s departure Friday after conducting a thorough review. Details of Easterbrook’s separation package will be released Monday in a federal filing, according to a company spokesperson.

The board of directors named Chris Kempczinski, who recently served as president of McDonald’s USA, as its new president and CEO.

Kempczinski was instrumental in the development of McDonald’s strategic plan and oversaw the most comprehensive transformation of the U.S. business in McDonald’s history, said Enrique Hernandez, chairman of McDonald’s board, in a statement.

“Steve brought me into McDonald’s and he was a patient and helpful mentor,” Kempczinski said, thanking him for his contributions.

McDonald’s CEO ousted after having ‘consensual’ relationship with an employee

Former McDonald's CEO Stephen Easterbrook. (Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images)

McDonald’s fired its CEO after he violated company policy by having a “consensual” relationship with an unnamed employee, the fast-food chain announced on Sunday.

Steve Easterbrook was at the helm of the fast-food behemoth since 2015. He will be succeeded by Chris Kempczinski, 51, who previously served as the company’s former head of U.S. business. 

In a news release, McDonald’s said Easterbrook was ousted “following the Board’s determination that he violated company policy and demonstrated poor judgment involving a recent consensual relationship with an employee.”

The company didn’t provide further details about the relationship. 

Easterbrook also stepped down from the board of directors. He sent out an email to employees on Sunday, writing: “This was a mistake. Given the values of the company, I agree with the board that it is time for me to move on.”

Wilbur Ross optimistic on trade deal, says Huawei-sales licenses coming ‘shortly’

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Sunday that licenses for U.S. companies to do business with China’s Huawei Technologies Inc. will be coming "very shortly" and expressed optimism about a U.S.-China trade deal. Speaking with Bloomberg Television in Bangkok, Thailand, as he attended the ASEAN summit, Ross said that while it was possible the "phase one" deal might not be ready to be signed this month, "We’re in good shape, we’re making good progress, and there’s no natural reason why it couldn’t be." Ross offered Iowa, Hawaii and Alaska as possible sites for a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to sign the deal. Ross told Bloomberg that 260 U.S. companies had applied for licenses to sell to Huawei. "That’s a lot of applications – it’s frankly more than we would’ve thought," he said. The U.S. blacklisted Huawei in May, and has delayed issuing licenses to do business with it since summer. In July, Trump said the licensing process would be done in a "timely" fashion.

Growing support for impeachment probe, WSJ/NBC News poll finds

WASHINGTON — A polarized nation is dividing even further into its hardened partisan corners, with Republicans firming up opposition to the House impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump and support growing among Democrats for removing him from office, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

Some 53% of Americans in the survey said they approve of the Democratic-run House impeachment inquiry, with 44% disapproving. Nearly half — 49% — said that Trump should be impeached and removed from the White House based on what they have heard so far, with 46% opposing impeachment and removal.

When the Journal/NBC News poll asked a similar question in early October, support for impeachment and removal lagged behind opposition, 43% to 49%.

While many shifts in the course of October are within the polls’ margins of error, they suggest that Americans are now divided by party over impeachment to the same extensive degree that they are divided over Trump himself.

Among Democrats, support for removing Trump from office rose to 88%, up 13 percentage points from early October and in line with the 92% who disapprove of the president’s job performance. Among Republicans, opposition to removing Trump rose to 90%, up 5 percentage points, and nearly identical to the 91% who approve of the president’s performance in office.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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