GOP enjoys political feast after Dem urges eatery boycott
Calif. party faithful say it’s hard to stomach avoiding In-N-Out
LOS ANGELES — Anthony Grigore is a Democrat. But as he waited Thursday at an In-N-Out Burger in El Segundo for his meal, Grigore made it clear party loyalty would only go so far.
Just hours earlier, the head of the California Democratic Party called for a boycott of the famed burger chain after a public filing revealed that the company had recently donated $25,000 to the state’s Republican Party.
“Eating at In-N-Out is such a standard thing to do across California,” Grigore said, dismissing the boycott idea as a bit silly.
California has emerged as the center of the Democratic resistance since President Donald Trump took office.
But this activism might have met its match when it comes to InN-Out, a California institution that some hold with the same level of esteem as the Golden Gate Bridge and Joshua Tree.
By the end of the day, Democrats were distancing themselves from the idea and Republicans were enjoying a political feast, with some making big lunch orders to show their support for the chain and posting photos on social media.
“We have all of our children eating In-N-Out burgers. Even my son’s German shepherd eats In-NOut,” said state Sen. Jim Nielsen, RGerber, whose staff ordered 25 burgers and 50 bags of fries for lunch.
Political experts said they aren’t surprised that In-N-Out has proved hard to demonize, especially if the company’s sin was simply donating to the Republican Party.
“The stomach overrules the mind,” Jaime Regalado, emeritus professor of political science at California State University, Los Angeles. “A cheap, good-tasting burger is hard to dismiss politically.”
The political food fight began when Eric Bauman, the head of the California Democratic Party, called for the boycott on Twitter on Wednesday night.
Bauman tweeted a link to a story about the contribution and wrote, “Et tu In-N-Out?” with the hashtag #BoycottInNOut.
By Thursday morning, his tweet had morphed into a national political story, and the state party was clarifying Bauman’s remarks. Bauman on Thursday referred calls to the party’s communications director, John Vigna, who said the chair’s tweet was “just his personal view” and the boycott isn’t being considered as an official California Democratic Party policy.
In-N-Out, meanwhile, quickly put out a statement by Executive Vice President Arnie Wensinger that noted that the company “made equal contributions to both Democratic and Republican” political action committees in California in 2018.
Filings show that the restaurant chain gave at least $80,000 this election cycle to Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy, a committee focused on electing business-friendly Democrats to the state Legislature. The chain also gave at least $30,000 to the committee in 2016.
The company previously donated $30,000 to the California Republican Party in 2017 and at least $30,000 in 2016.