‘Dirty on the outside, dirty on the inside’: Trump goes Gordon Ramsay on Virginia restaurant
After White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was booted out of a Virginia restaurant over her administration’s immigration policy, President Trump himself waded into the discussion, channeling his inner Gordon Ramsay.
Trump, who liberal media once castigated for solely eating at McDonalds while on the road, assumed the role of restaurant critic on Monday, lambasting the restaurant in question on Twitter.
“The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders,” Trump tweeted, adding: “I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!”
The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2018
Trump’s fans piled on the Red Hen Restaurant, blasting its owners for liberal virtue-signaling.
— Jack Posobiec🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) June 25, 2018
Sarah Sanders is welcome at our house for dinner anytime.So is the Red Hen manager who asked her to leave.So is the baker who didn’t bake the cake and the gay couple that sued.So is Donald Trump. So is Barack Obama.What’s so hard about that?
— Alan (@DerbyWill) June 24, 2018
Can you believe that a restaurant called The Red Hen in Lexington, VA, refused to serve @PressSec Sarah Huckabee Sanders & asked her to leave because she works for @POTUS@realDonaldTrump? Talk about discrimination! I’ve met Sarah, and she’s a nice lady.https://t.co/vciEKxENMM
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) June 24, 2018
The #resistance, of course, chided Trump for spending his valuable time jibing local restaurants. Thanks to Sanders’ and Trump’s tag-team Twitter efforts, one of Trump’s foes argued that the Red Hen is now “ruined.”
The Red Hen — the restaurant Trump said is "dirty on the inside" — passed its Feb. 2018 inspection with no violations. The restaurant has had three violations in the past four years, two of which were corrected during the time of inspection. https://t.co/pXfiCukyv9
— Mary Ann Georgantopoulos (@marygeorgant) June 25, 2018
Hi Mr. Trump! Que pasa, amigo? Oops...sorry. Didn’t mean to piss you off with that inferior language. Anyhoo, I was wondering if you were going to actually do some work this week? I only ask because you haven’t done jack shit in 17 months. Ok my phone is ringing. Gotta go. Adios!
— Greg Shugar (@GregShugar) June 25, 2018
Since when in the history of our nation did both the Press Secretary of the United States and the President of the United States team up with each other to destroy a small restaurant? The Red Hen is now ruined.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) June 25, 2018
Sanders and her dinner party were kicked out of the Lexington, Virginia restaurant on Friday, as the owner apparently refused to serve her out of “moral conviction.”
Sanders tweeted her response to the story on Saturday, and the restaurant’s social media pages were flooded with reviews that either commended the establishment for booting the press secretary out, or threatened it with boycott for going against the commander in chief.
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
.@PressSec got kicked out of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Va tonight. Apparently the owner didn’t want to serve her and her party out of moral conviction. pic.twitter.com/jr3bfiY3XY
— Brennan Gilmore (@brennanmgilmore) June 23, 2018
“I heard you kicked Sarah Sanders out with her party,” one Facebook commenter said. “You leftist pig have lost my appiitite [sic] for your squalid food.”
“Everyone in this country needs to take a stand, and I stand with the owner of this establishment,” said another. “I wouldn’t allow anyone from this administration in my business or home either.”
Sanders herself addressed the issue at Monday's press briefing.
“We are allowed to disagree, but we should be able to do so freely and without fear of harm. This goes for all people, regardless of politics,” the White House press secretary said.
She condemned calls for "hate and vandalism" against Red Hen, equating them with calls by actor Peter Fonda to kidnap her children and Rep. Maxine Waters urging people to confront Trump administration officials everywhere.
“Healthy debate on ideas and political philosophy is important, but the calls for harassment and the push for any Trump supporter to avoid the public is unacceptable,” Sanders said.
Google later quietly deleted the negative reviews on its site, and despite Trump’s criticism, the Red Hen is currently rated 4.4 out of 5, with guests seemingly untroubled by its “filthy canopies, doors and windows.”
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