Wendy's Says Presidential Election Is Hurting Sales

There are many reasons why restaurant sales are facing pressure - including food safety concerns following the Chipotle fallout, a trend towards workers bringing their own food to work, and economic uncertainty forcing consumers to save a few extra dollars instead of dining out.

The CEO of Wendys Co WEN has a different theory to blame the company's poor sales - the presidential election.

CNBC quoted Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor as saying during the company's conference call that consumers are feeling "uncertain around their future" and are "really trying to figure out what this election cycle really means to them."

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The executive added that consumers are simply "not as apt to spend as freely as they might have even just a couple of quarters ago."

Perhaps Penegor is on to something. After all, he isn't the only executive blaming the the battle for the White House in generating poor sales.

McDonald's Corporation MCD's CEO Stephen Easterbrook said in July that "elections" and "global events" are resulting in customers being "slightly mindful of an unsettled world."

Nick Setyan, an analyst at Wedbush, told CNBC that Wendy's blame game is merely "a lot of speculation" as there "haven't been too many facts that can prove" the relationship between the presidential race and Wendy's burger sales.

The analyst has his own theory - there is a widening "gap between food at home and food away from home." He added that restaurants are "becoming less of a value relative to grocery stores."