Trump slams "filthy" restaurant that kicked out Sarah Sanders
President Trump is slamming the Lexington, Virginia restaurant that kicked out his press secretary on Friday.
Early Monday morning, the president tweeted, "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."
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
The president's negative review appears to be based solely on photos he has seen in news stories or social media. The restaurant had no violations in its 2018 inspection by the Virginia Department of Health.
On Friday evening, Sanders and her family went to the Red Hen, a small farm-to-table restaurant in Lexington. The restaurant's owner, Stephanie Wikinson, decided to ask Sanders to leave. Sanders agreed to leave the restaurant, and even offered to pay for the cheese course, which had already been served, but it was on the house, Wilkinson told The Washington Post.
The story took social media by tsunami when Sanders confirmed that the incident had taken place.
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
Yelp, a website in which patrons review restaurants, became the battlefield for a proxy war between indignant Trump supporters and liberals who cheered the ejection of the White House press secretary.
Wilkinson, however, told the Post that she had no regrets about her decision.
"I would have done the same thing again," she said. "We just felt there are moments in time when people need to live their convictions. This appeared to be one."
Since his election, the president has never dined at a restaurant not owned or licensed by the Trump Organization in the U.S., according to CBS News' Mark Knoller, the unofficial record keeper of presidential data for decades.