A darling of Cleveland’s culinary scene said Thursday that he wouldn’t allow Donald Trump to set foot in his restaurants when the Republican National Convention rolls into town next month.
“Dude, there’s not a chance I’d let him into one of my restaurants,” Michael Symon said in an interview with Cleveland radio station WKRK, as flagged by cleveland.com.
Symon, who owns multiple restaurants in Cleveland, rose to fame after winning “The Next Iron Chef,” earning him a permanent spot on the show. He’s also a host of ABC’s “The Chew” and appears frequently on Food Network programs.
Two of Symon’s restaurants are located near Quicken Loans Arena, where Trump is expected to be crowned the Republican Party’s nominee. If either of those restaurants host private parties as the convention unfolds, he said the real estate mogul won’t be among those invited.
Asked if he thought his ban on the real estate mogul would alienate Trump fans who might be customers, Symon said that it had nothing to do with politics. The celebrity chef said that he had been “fortunate or unfortunate enough to meet him through the years.”
“It’s just that he creeps me out,” Symon said.
Listen to Symon’s comments below:
As long as Symon claims religious freedom (i.e. He can’t in good conscience serve greedy, lying, hypocrites) as his justification, it should be okay with Trumpsters.
“It’s just that he creeps me out,” Symon said.
The lost business from barring Trump will be more than made up by Chris Christie.
Symon is great! It’s nice to see that someone you already like has a similar opinion on Trumpy Dumpy.
I would allow him to eat at my restaurant…I would also instruct the waitress/waiter serving his table to ask Trump for payment up front, and cite his history of not paying for services rendered…in the presence of his guest cuz I’m the captain of #TeamPetty