Trump and MAGA intimidate a small Virginia restaurant. They fight back. Eloquently.
- Jun 24, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 26, 2024
June 25: On This Day In 2018
The Red Hen is a small farm-to-table restaurant with 26 seats in Lexington VA, roughly 200 miles from Washington. OTDI 2018, Trump made it famous, tweeting about its “filthy canopies, doors and windows” and how it’s badly in need of a paint job.
Why did the Leader of the Free World care about Red Hen? Why was this yet another American business our president tried to destroy? You’ll recall a few weeks ago when we told you about Press Secretary Sarah Sanders’ unique propensity to make up lies. Well apparently some Americans still find that kind of thing dishonorable. How old-fashioned of them!
The owner of Red Hen is one of those proud Americans, and she asked Sanders to leave her establishment once she realized who Sanders was. Sanders indignantly tweeted: "Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen … to leave because I work for @POTUS, and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me.”
Sanders’ tweet stirred up the madness of the MAGA crowd, which issued threats and calls to boycott not only that restaurant, but any non-affiliated restaurant named Red Hen no matter where they were. Trump’s tweet only added fuel to the fire. Some Red Hens received threats to burn down their establishment; others got egged. Even a Red Hen in Ireland was pestered by a truly stupid MAGA fan. Finally, the threats got so bad that Sanders herself addressed MAGAville from the White House briefing room and asked them to stop their harassment and intimidation.
The owner of the Red Hen, Stephanie Wilkinson, penned an op-ed column in the Washington Post about the experience. “Resistance isn’t futile,” read the headline. She recounted the thousands of hand-scrawled hate letter and death threats she received. “Yet, as I kept opening the letters, I saw a pattern. For every hateful message, there was one of gratitude. For every angry accusation…there was a note of thanks from someone lamenting Trump’s rollback of protections for marginalized people. What’s more, for every wish that our business die a painful death, there was a dollar bill or a generous check or an order for a gift certificate.”
Dive Deeper
CBS News reports on Trump’s Red Hen animosity
Stephanie Wilkinson’s op-ed in the Washington Post
Summary: Trump intimidates the Red Hen