White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Saturday that she was told to leave a Lexington, Virginia restaurant the previous night due to her role in the Trump administration.
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
The tweet, former Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub and others pointed out, came from Sanders’ government account.
In a play-by-play to the Washington Post Saturday afternoon, the co-owner of The Red Hen, Stephanie Wilkinson, said she drove down to her restaurant Friday night after hearing from a chef that Sanders had just arrived. Asked what they thought, Wilkinson recounted, the restaurant’s staff said they wanted Sanders gone.
“This feels like the moment in our democracy when people have to make uncomfortable actions and decisions to uphold their morals,” she told the Post.
Wilkinson said she asked Sanders to step outside to the restaurant’s patio and then asked her to leave. “That’s fine. I’ll go,” Sanders said, according to Wilkinson.
The story first broke in a tweet early Saturday morning from Brennan Gilmore, executive director of the progressive political action committee Clean Virginia.
Gilmore posted pictures of what appeared to be a note with the instruction to “86” Sanders, and of a Facebook post from a server at the restaurant.
“I just served Sarah huckabee sanders for a total of 2 minutes before my owner kicked her out along with 7 of her other family members…” the post read.
.@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
Asked for comment, Sanders referred TPM to her tweet Saturday.
The incident fits a recent pattern: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was heckled with shouts of “Shame!” for several minutes at a Washington, D.C. Mexican restaurant on Tuesday.
Two nights earlier, White House adviser Stephen Miller was called a “fascist” at another District Mexican restaurant, the New York Post subsequently reported citing an unnamed source who saw it happen.
All three administration officials — Sanders, Nielsen and Miller — played leading roles in implementing or defending the Trump administration’s family separation policy.
Sanders’ father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, chimed in Saturday with his own folksy condemnation. It’s unclear if he was in attendance Friday night.
Bigotry. On the menu at Red Hen Restaurant in Lexington VA. Or you can ask for the “Hate Plate”. And appetizers are “small plates for small minds” https://t.co/rHEVdcQwwh
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) June 23, 2018
He’d earlier posted a tweet with a decidedly different tone, saying House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) campaign committee was made up of Salvadoran gang members.
Nancy Pelosi introduces her campaign committee for the take back of the House. pic.twitter.com/yKDhkVubck
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) June 23, 2018
This post has been updated.
