Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Opinions erupt after Sanders is “kicked out” of restaurant,

- By Melissa Etehad The Washington Post contribute­d.

It didn’t take long before word got out that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was kicked out of a Virginia restaurant — or for people to hail her ejection as a brave move or denounce it as intoleranc­e.

“I just served Sarah Sanders for a total of 2 minutes before my owner kicked her out along with 7 of her other family members,” Jaike Foley-Schultz, a waiter at the Red Hen, wrote Friday evening on Facebook.

Ms. Sanders confirmed the incident in a tweet on Saturday morning:

“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.”

Soon after, Stephanie Wilkinson, owner of the Red Hen, told The Washington Post her reasoning for booting the press secretary out of her restaurant.

“I explained that the restaurant has certain standards that I feel it has to uphold, such as honesty, and compassion and cooperatio­n,” she said.

“I would have done the same thing again. … We just felt there are moments in time when people need to live their conviction­s. This appeared to be one.”

For all the angst that evening, Ms. Wilkinson also said, everything had taken place with decorum. She had been polite; Ms. Sanders had been polite; the press secretary’s family had been polite as they followed her out the door.

Many people defended Ms. Wilkinson’s actions on social media.

The incident was trending on Twitter and people left comments on the Red Hen’s Yelp and Facebook pages thanking the restaurant for standing up against Ms. Sanders, who has defended President Donald Trump and his controvers­ial policies, including one that before Wednesday separated about 2,300 children from their parents who allegedly crossed the border illegally.

Ms. Wilkinson’s actions, however, did not come without controvers­y.

Some people called Ms. Wilkinson “petty” and said that her actions demonstrat­ed intoleranc­e for different points of view. Ms. Sanders’ father, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, chimed in on Twitter and called it bigotry.

Ms. Sanders is far from the only Trump official who has been called out in public for administra­tion policies.

On Tuesday evening, protesters flooded a Mexican restaurant in Washington, shouting “shame” and “end family separation” at Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as she tried to eat a meal.

It took only 10 minutes before Ms. Nielsen, who became another recognizab­le face while defending Mr. Trump’s tough immigratio­n policies, decided to leave the restaurant.

At one point in a video posted by the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America, Ms. Nielsen appears to avoid protesters by lowering her head and typing on her cell phone as a crowd swarms near her table chanting, “If kids can’t eat in peace, you can’t in peace.”

Mr. Trump may be wildly popular in some parts of the country, but for some staffers, at least young ones, serving in this administra­tion presents another challenge — the dating scene.

According to Politico, some young profession­als face hostility when out on dates or socializin­g with people after revealing they work for the Trump administra­tion.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States