With Little Else on the Agenda, President Trump Turns Restaurant Critic

There are several things to consider here.

First of all, the controversy over the weekend, in regards to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders being denied service in a Lexington, Virginia restaurant called the Red Hen was disgusting.

One of the owners asked Sanders to leave, based on what she called “moral reasons.” Specifically, opposition to the current situation with immigrant children on the southern border.

I get that. I get being upset. It’s an ugly situation. Sanders, however, does not write policy. She simply stands in front of the press and attempts to answer questions about the administration’s decisions.

So was the owner right to ask Sanders and her party leave?

That’s on them. It was rude and ignorant, in my view, but I’m of the belief that if you have a business, you should be able to refuse service for whatever reasons you feel, then let the public decide whether you’re running the kind of enterprise they want to be involved with.

No, they don’t have to serve someone they find offensive, and no, they shouldn’t be forced to bake the cake.

However, let’s not make the mistake of comparing the Red Hen’s decision to deny service, based on political differences, to the Christian baker refusing to bake a wedding cake for a same sex wedding.

In one case, absolute service was denied. In the other, the same sex couples were not denied a cake or any other item. They were only denied the service that would violate the baker’s religious beliefs.

What resulted when the news broke about Sanders’ ouster was a flood of mixed reviews on Yelp about the Red Hen.

Unfortunately, some were attacking a Washington, D.C. restaurant by the same name, with no affiliation to the Lexington, Virginia eatery.

This is unthinking tribal politics at its worst.

On Monday morning, President Trump decided to join the dogpile on the restaurant, because that’s what presidents do – attempt to sink American businesses, based on grudges.

And nowhere in the job description for “American president” will you find the words, “restaurant critic.”

In a morning tweet, Trump slammed the Red Hen:

“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,” the president wrote on Twitter.

“I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!”

Has Donald Trump ever actually been to the Red Hen, in Lexington?

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

I’m going to guess he has not. He’s just like those online reviewers who are slamming the place with single-star reviews, in an effort to punish them for the Sanders incident.

The difference is, he’s the president of the United States. His stance should be very neutral. He shouldn’t wade into these public controversies, at all.

In the broader scheme of things, considering everything that is on his plate (pun intended), you would think this would be one thing he could let go.

He didn’t, because he’s a petty, unserious man. He is not a leader. He is a saboteur.