Why A Restaurant Owner Refused To Serve A Top Trump Employee Dinner
What would you do if someone walked into a restaurant you owned — someone whose politics you strongly opposed — and asked for a meal? What if it was the PM? Or Pauline Hanson? Or how about someone that worked for the PM? That situation became a reality for a small shop owner in rural United States on Friday night when Sarah Huckabee Sanders, one of president Donald Trump’s top employees, walked in.
Sanders, who is Trump’s press secretary, arrived with seven others at the Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia. Lexington is an old town with strong military roots that hosts just over 7,000 residents.
Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) June 23, 2018
The Washington Post was able to grab a hold of the owner, and asked her why she chose to kick Sanders out of the restaurant.
“I said, ‘I’m the owner,'” Stephanie Wilkinson, the Red Hen’s owner, recalled. “‘I’d like you to come out to the patio with me for a word.'”
Once there, Wilkinson told Sanders that the restaurant had standards of “honesty, and compassion, and cooperation” that it wanted to uphold: and that because Sanders did not uphold those values, the restaurant would like her to leave.
Wilkinson made the decision after consulting with her staff, some of which were gay. All the guests at Sanders table chose to leave with her — and Wilkinson let them head off without paying for their entree.
The incident comes after a week of political tension in the United States. As she visited an immigration detention centre, first lady Melania Trump provocatively wore a jacket with the words “I really don’t care, do u?” emblazoned on the back. The president’s new border policy (which has been called “immoral“, “unconscionable” and “nothing short of torture“) has been likened to Australia’s own asylum seeker regime.
In the hours since, Red Hen’s Yelp and Facebook profiles have been overwhelmed with partisan reviews — both for and against the restaurant.
And elsewhere, people are debating whether the move was right or wrong.
I can’t believe how many people get paid to have opinions like “kicking sarah huckabee sanders out of a restaurant is dangerous to society”
— libby watson (@libbycwatson) June 24, 2018
The left has lost their last mind.
Time For A Boycott: Restaurant Refuses To Serve Sarah Huckabee Sanders, But Her Response Is Classy.https://t.co/EYMLtbjGRz— Diamond and Silk® (@DiamondandSilk) June 24, 2018
How long until we have Republican or Democrat only restaurants? So fucking stupid. All of it. The owner. Sanders tweeting it. All of it. Just dumb. America, do yourself a favor, befriend a person who has opposite political views and learn from them.
— Trey Radel (@treyradel) June 23, 2018
I just heard about a restaurant kicking Sarah Sanders out of a restaurant and it’s got me thinking that Democrats have to be talking about health care today and every day till the election.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) June 23, 2018
Some drew comparison to small businesses refusing to serve LGBTQI individuals — a topic that drew attention recently after the Supreme Court ruled that a baker could refuse to make a cake for a gay couple.
If the restaurant owner who asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave had merely refused service to a gay person bc they hated gay people, there would be dozens of MAGA GoFundMe’s to “Stand With Red Hen"
— Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss) June 24, 2018
Is it legal to ask Sanders to leave a restaurant? Yes.
Is that just like Jim Crow? No.
1st, that’s a dick comparison.
2nd, you can’t deny someone service based on their protected class status: race, religion, sex. Sexual orientation, maybe.Fascist is not a protected class
— T’Chanda Prescod-Weinstein??♀️ ?? (@IBJIYONGI) June 23, 2018
Liberals two weeks ago: A Christian must be forced to bake a cake against his beliefs and will!
Liberals today: A restaurant owner is totally allowed to kick out Sarah Sanders because the owner can’t be forced to serve someone he disagrees with or go against his beliefs!
?
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 24, 2018