White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said she was asked to leave a Virginia restaurant by its owner because she works for the Trump administration.
Sanders made the claim in a tweet, in which she suggested the incident “says far more about” the restaurant’s owner, who asked her to leave, than her.
Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely le… https://t.co/C5554K1LVJ— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived) 1529765588
But the owner, Stephanie Wilkinson, told The Washington Post in an interview that she "would have done the same thing again".
Wilkinson told the Post that she asked Sanders to leave at the request of her staff.
I explained that the restaurant has certain standards that I feel it has to uphold, such as honesty, and compassion, and cooperation. I said, 'I'd like to ask you to leave.'
Unsurprisingly in a country as politically divided as America, Wilkinson’s decision has resulted in both backlash and praise. The restaurant’s Yelp page has been flooded with both 1 star and 5 star reviews.
Sanders' father, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, called it "bigotry" on Twitter.
Bigotry. On the menu at Red Hen Restaurant in Lexington VA. Or you can ask for the “Hate Plate”. And appetizers ar… https://t.co/ed8YPlRcJC— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@Gov. Mike Huckabee) 1529766864
A separate restaurant in Washington, also named the Red Hen, posted on social media that it has no affiliation with the restaurant in Virginia.
Good morning! @PressSec went to the unaffiliated @RedHenLex last night, not to our DC-based restaurant.— The Red Hen (@The Red Hen) 1529763912
But others praised the move. Twitter users were quick to point out that the Trump administration supports the right to discriminate against people based on “religious belief or moral conviction”. A well-known example of this happened just a few weeks ago, when the US Supreme Court ruled that a baker had a constitutional right to refuse service to a gay couple seeking a cake for their wedding.
So this is uncool, but it’s totally fine for a baker to refuse to make a cake for gay people, because of personal c… https://t.co/dr49P9UoVU— Celeste Ng (@Celeste Ng) 1529779863
I will go out of my way to eat at Red Hen in Lexington. https://t.co/Ct4LNHUfbz— Carl Kinsella (@Carl Kinsella) 1529779594
I have no problem with Red Hen refusing to serve Sanders. It is their right, just as it is a person’s right to refu… https://t.co/xFgXMQ8ie5— StarWarsCmdCenter (@StarWarsCmdCenter) 1529780863
While others simply put this down to the fact that, while freedom of speech and expression may seem like easy concepts, they are hard to put into practice.
Red Hen has a right to refuse service. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has a right to complain. Potential customers have… https://t.co/NNYRadEeZi— David French (@David French) 1529779608
Sanders’ ejection comes after other officials were confronted over Trump’s immigration policy as they dined out this week.
On Tuesday, people booed and shouted at Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as she dined at a Mexican restaurant in Washington, DC, expressing anger at Trump’s border policy that separated children from their parents.