A Charlotte grocery store worker is out of a job after he insulted North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) to his face.
The Charlotte Observer reported on a confrontation Sunday between McCrory and Drew Swope, a 45-year-old cook at a gourmet food store.
After realizing he was speaking with the governor, whom he disagrees with politically, Swope said he told McCrory, “Thanks for nothing,” and walked away.
Swope said the governor was upset at his comment and began “yelling” at him. He said McCrory said he was a customer and shouldn’t be treated that way.
He said the governor and his security team complained to the food store owner, who then fired him.
Acknowledging that he “did speak out of turn,” Swope doesn’t begrudge the store owner for firing him. But he does find it “shocking” that McCrory “had me excluded from the workplace because I upset his feelings.”
A spokesman for McCrory told the Observer that the governor never raised his voice and that the fired worker actually made an obscene gesture, an accusation that Swope denied. The spokesman also said Swope has said “things about physically harming the governor as well,” citing a Facebook group for a planned protest where participants discussed burning an effigy of McCrory.
