Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was kicked out of another restaurant this week. Years ago, I wrote about how Sanders, then the Trump White House spokesperson, was told to leave the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia. Now, the Croissanterie Restaurant in Little Rock, Arkansas, has told the governor to leave because employees said they felt uncomfortable having her in the restaurant. One person yelled at her and flipped her off as she left with her friends and security.
Sanders went to the restaurant with three other moms for a quick meal. She recounted how she and the other moms were then told to leave: “Last week I was having lunch with two other moms at a restaurant when the owner approached a member of the State Police Executive Protection Detail and said my presence made their employees feel threatened and told us to leave.”
She added: “Arkansans are known for their warm hospitality, and while that restaurant certainly doesn’t meet that standard, my administration will continue to focus on lifting Arkansans up, not tearing others down with discrimination and hate.”
Sanders had already started to eat when the restaurant’s owner approached a member of the security detail and requested that the governor leave.
The Croissanterie released a lengthy statement and admitted that they told the governor and her party to leave. While offering a hand-ringing explanation about being “surprised and uncertain how best to respond,” it admitted that it “ultimately made the decision” to “support our employees and guests who expressed they were uncomfortable.”
It added, “We regret being placed in this position and having to make a difficult decision. However, we stand by our choice to support our employees and guests.”
The restaurant is founded and owned by Jill McDonald, executive chef, and Wendy Schay, pastry chef.
We have seen various restaurants refusing to serve Trump supporters, conservatives, and even those deemed allies. Democratic members of Congress have defended such actions and even encouraged liberals to disrupt meals of conservatives.
Liberals went to social media to celebrate the move by the restaurant. One posting from an employee declared:
“Good Morning! Sarah Huckabee Sanders no amount of evil you send our way can ever take our smiles away!!! I’m proud af to work here! I’m proud af to be gay and I’m proud af to be an Arkansan. My voice matters. Try again.”
There have been virtually no condemnations from leading Democrats, who either fear or support such mob actions.
In my book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” and my new book, Rage and the Republic, I discuss what I called this “age of rage.”
Rage is a curious emotion. It is the ultimate release. It allows you to do things and say things that you would not otherwise do or say. That is why it is addictive and contagious. What people will not admit is that they like it. It allows them to hate completely; to dispense with notions of decency or civility.
This restaurant yielded to hate and intolerance to appease not only its employees but the radical left.
This action occurs the same week as a poll showing that a majority of Americans now view those with opposing views as “morally bad.”
The rage addiction is obvious in these postings, as shown most recently by James Carville.
Democratic leaders believe that they can fuel this rage addiction and lead the mob to victory in the midterm elections. The cost is also to fuel the product of rage, including political violence.
The most recent targeting of Sanders presents a moral choice for the left. If you rationalize this action or continue to patronize restaurants like the Croissanterie Restaurant, you have made a choice. You have embraced the intolerance and hatred sweeping over this nation.
For all of their superficial expressions of reluctance, Jill McDonald and Wendy Schay chose hate over tolerance. While claiming to be “uncertain how best to respond,” the answer was obvious for anyone with a sense of decency: you serve everyone regardless of your political differences. Food, like music, allows people to come together; share common experiences and environments.
I truly believe that this age of rage will end as prior such ages ended. Eventually, the rage burns off and people recognize that their hatred had twisted them into grotesque figures. To reach that point, however, we must learn to speak to each other again and tolerate those who disagree with us. To put it simply, we have to break bread with one another and consider what we have in common.
Jill McDonald and Wendy Schay appear to want to cater to the rage and make their food exclusively available to those with whom they and their employees agree politically. We will have to see if that is a winning business strategy, but most of us have little appetite for their type of culinary-based hate.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
Make them “famous” on Yelp and Google reviews.
Cujo
I’ve been in restaurants which required men to wear a coat and tie.
Private business, they make the rules.
Looks to me that J. Turley is frothing at the mouth.
Right, that actually shows why the two situations are not comparable. A coat‑and‑tie policy is a clear rule you know before you sit down, so you can decide whether to go in at all. Here the ‘rule’ was improvised after the governor was already seated and eating, as a one‑off accommodation to staff politics. If it had really been a house rule, her party would never have chosen the place in the first instance. Calling those two the same thing takes some real effort.
Not always. The assistant matre’d, on duty that night, might seat the first tieless customers before then asking them to leave.
Not always? Sure. The assistant maître d’ might first seat the tieless customers, present them with menus, pour their water, and only then discover the sacred dress code and escort them out. That is not really the defense you seem to think it is.
The cheese has been slipping off DBB’s cracker for a while now.
Yeah, DBB reminds me of the old story about the sergeant who was told to be more sensitive delivering bad news. Next day he lines up the platoon and yells, ‘Everyone with parents, take one pace forward. Wilcox, stand fast.’ That is about the level of finesse we are dealing with here.
In this actual case, I opine that the problem was the securuty detail, looking around at everybody, even staring, with prominently displayed holstered weapons.
In this actual case, I opine that if obvious, trained security with duty holsters makes you nervous in a permitless carry state, you might not want to think too hard about how many other people in that dining room were quietly carrying as well. The professionals were probably the safest part of the room.
The problem was not the security staff who provide security for the governor, it was those who believe they will always be right that started the issue. If I lived there, I’d protest in front of the restaurant.
Maybe, but it’s because seating violates a particular rule that was announced in advance. Surely you must see this. I don’t understand why you’re trying so hard to prove how wrong you are. I think you might have a bit of that rage that Turley is talking about. Get a grip.
And other customers. I opine that the discomfort was from the security detail, looking around, even staring, with their openly displayed weapons.
Would certainly discomfort me!
Quite frankly, your reaction is exactly what I expected. You see trained security and imagine danger, I see trained security and imagine order. If a few holstered sidearms on uniformed officers are enough to send everyone’s ‘comfort level’ into crisis, maybe the problem is not the weapons but the nerves.
Places of public accommodation can have rules of decorum and conduct that apply to all customers alike. Excluding particular customers based on who they are is a different matter and probably illegal If you can’t tell the difference then you need to read more Turley to get educated.
Don’t be obtuse. They dined, paid, tipped and then they were asked to leave? Owner and staff are morons. And social criminals.
IMO, there is some point in the dining process where both parties have entered into a contract to transact. I don’t whether that point is when the customer is seated or when they place an order. At that point the contract ought not be terminated without an identifiable cause.
Retarded snowflakes are not just cause, they should just be told to STFU and do their jobs or be fired.
I’m normally against the abuse of power but in this case that restaurant needs quaterly state tax audits and daily health inspections.
Olly’s response to your post is correct. While “Private business, they make the rules” is correct, it doesn’t get at the root of the issue which is “open to the public”. Wonder what the restaurant would do if 1,000 people showed up and marched on the street in front of the restaurant.
What an unadulterated pile of bovine excrement gushing forth from Turley today.
He is quite deliberately stoking the rage of his mindless MAGA followers, as can be seen in all the rage filled comments today. He is quite deliberately stoking the rage that he so roundly condemns
The hypocrisy is staggering. Turley has found his golden goose and is furiously working it to sell his stupid books.
He ends his piece today with a stunningly hypocritical statement:
“we must learn to speak to each other again and tolerate those who disagree with us. To put it simply, we have to break bread with one another and consider what we have in common.”
Is today’s piece an example of how to “tolerate those who disagree with us”
Is today’s piece an example “considering what we have in common.”
NO !!!!
It is a blatant example of stoking the rage that he supposedly abhors.
And then he compounds this travesty of rage by disingenuously saying that we should all get together and “break bread and consider what we have in common”.
What a joke !!!
Why isn’t he doing that himself ??
Why isn’t he doing what he himself is suggesting that everyone else do to solve this problem ???
He has absolutely no intention of solving the problem.
He will continue to stoke rage here for as long as he can make a quick buck.
Looks like the good professor got under your skin, sensitive moron.
Okay.
So, point out this MAGA rage you speak of.
Seems to me, OLLY, James, Young, Diogenes, and others have had reasonable, civil discussions on the topic today.
The one annony is the one calling out for “attacks,” and “pummel” and “make them cry” hate and rage.
Same annony told HullBobby to eat a bullet or something to that effect.
As Young points out, this is a shame if the two women who started out this venture were to fail based off of one or more employees emotion based demands. And it would! They have the passion, the talent to make something from nothing. Good on them. But if by one bad decision, by folding to the hate and rage of some of their employees, causes their business to fail, that is on them. Not us. And it is not just discrimination of a political party. It is any kind of discrimination is wrong. I know this first hand as my own family has been discriminated based off the color of our skin.
Does that make me full of hate and rage? No. Just aware of how any and all discrimination is wrong.
Seems to me, the good professor is ready and willing to talk to anyone whom will talk to him. Seems to me, it is the leftists whom are full of hate and rage who will not talk to him. I know this as I have experienced it myself. Try to talk to someone not MAGA, and you can see the emotional hate and rage come over their face and there is no talking to them as they are driven by emotion and not reason. Not logic. Not common sense. Just emotions. And hate and rage. How are we to be expected to have a civil conversation with someone who says, in regards to Trump,
“I just hate him!”
Your apoplectic rant shows you need more bran in your diet, and you might be better off if you “let things go” versus wanting to change the world as you see it.
What a pathetic article! Zero substance and just pints Huckabee as pathetic as the cops who sued Afroman. Can’t take mean words and being asked to leave? Sounds like you shouldn’t be a public official!
For those supporting this behavior, why is it not so welcoming when a Baker chooses to excercise his rights to likewise not bake you a specific type of cake in a community with many other bakers for you to choose from? Equal rights, equal protections under the law!
Billionaire/Millionaire Tax violates the Equal Protection Clause.
The baker is the only person who may “claim and exercise” dominion over private property, beginning with trespass.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“[Private property is] that dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in exclusion of every other individual.”
– James Madison
There is a reason you think the article was pathetic. Think about it.
Next, think about the “substance” you contributed for the rest of us to enjoy. Just sayin’.
Cry harder, troll, we can’t hear you.
I oppose any law that inhibits the owner of a establishment that is private property from serving, or refusing to serve, anyone they choose. The law should never be used to attempt to force property owners to serve the public consistent with whatever notion of equity is currently popular. I also think that a business owner should be completely free to terminate any employee who refuses to service a customer of the business on any personal grounds. The treatment of Sanders and her dining companions was indefensible and reprehensible. But If those two principles were applied consistently, the market would have every opportunity to see to it that those responsible were punished accordingly.
Turley keeps trying to somehow normalize MAGA–downplaying the justified revulsion of the majority of Americans to Trump and everything MAGA. It’s not some sort of contagious, unjustified “rage” that appears to be the theme of Turley’s book–people SHOULD BE outraged over Trump and everything MAGA. Huckabee is part of Trump and MAGA, and the people in that restaurant didn’t want her there and let her know it. And, as Turley noted, this isn’t the first time she was advised that she isn’t welcome. The normal reaction of patriotic Americans is to be repulsed by Sarah Huckabee Sanders and what she stands for.
It is un-American and un-patriotic to accept Trump and MAGA without pushing back–which is why unprecedented numbers of Americans have, and will continue taking to the streets in protest. For starters, Trump LIED to get into office, promising no new forever wars–but rich Jews gave him hundreds of millions of dollars so that our brave American service members could bleed, die and be permanently disabled fighting Israel’s war against its enemies. How many Israeli troops have been killed? One source I read said the number was 2. We’ve lost 13—why? Trump was told by the families NOT to publicize the dignified transfer of the latest batch of dead Americans–he showed up anyway, photographed the casket of one of them, saluting it and then posted a photo with him in the center. As if all of that wasn’t bad enough, Whiskey Pete lied and said that the families of those who died fighting Israel’s war told him to “finish the job”. At least one family member said that was a total lie.
Trump LIED about the reason for starting the war with Iran–claiming that they were on the verge of nuking us, after claiming, last June that the US “totally and completely obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which had been conducting inspections, denied that Iran was enriching uranium for a bomb. Iran agreed to future inspections, and was actively negotiating with the US when Trump attacked it. There was no impasse. Even Tulsi Gabbard admitted that Iran was not ready to nuke us, and Joe Kent, Trump’s head of counterterrorism, quit in protest because he wouldn’t support this lie any more. Now, the cost of gas is going through the roof. Farmers are at the brink of the planting season, and diesel fuel is also drastically higher, which will drive up food prices. And, Trump with his tariffs managed to dry up their markets. Soon, grocery prices will go up even more because of the high cost of fuel for delivery trucks. There is no exit strategy, and now he’s sending in thousands of Marines to try to force Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz. He lied about Iran not being able to stop him–but Gabbard had to admit that Iran still has the weapon power to attack ships trying to go through the Strait. Trump keeps trying to goad shipping companies to proceed despite Iran’s promise to sink them–“show some guts” he claimed. How about Barron Trump going into the military? He just turned 20–if Trump thinks anyone should “show some guts”, let’s start with Barron. Give him a gun and put him out there on the front lines. Why should any other American family risk their sons or daughters if Trump won’t make Barron available? Tiffany is also of the age for military service. Let’s send her, too.
How about the illegal tariffs? The SCOTUS struck those down, but Trump is doubling down, promising to find a way to reinstate them. After insulting our allies, claiming they were “ripping us off”, and enacting tariffs, he then demanded that they help out in his war with Iran–and they all turned him down. Just yesterday, he insulted the Japanese representative by confronting her about Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Now, we American taxpayers are on the hook for reimbursements, with interest.
Trump LIED about immediately bringing down the cost of groceries–the price of groceries keeps going up. Trump LIED about Project 2025 being his agenda–now, he’s implementing it, hiring several of the authors. Trump cut off money for cancer research, and is pushing the bounds of presidential authority. He’s trying to pre-rig the midterms by putting up as many barriers as Republicans can come up with to make it difficult to vote, LYING about there being widespread fraud. He tried to get red states to create more Republican districts. He accepted a luxury jet from Qatar, he got UAE to buy $2 B worth of his cryptocurrency, and Saudi Arabia gave Jared $2 B to bail him out of a real estate mess he was in. Trump is owned by Israel, UAE and Saudi Arabia, which are all enemies of Iran, and that is another reason why he started this war.
Without authority, he tore down part of our White House, is trying to construct some gaudy ballroom no one wants that is double the size of the White House, he installed garish gold ornamentation everywhere, trying to make the White House look like some kind of palace, and has announced that he’s going to alter the columns outside the main entrance of the White House–as if he can just do as he pleases with the people’s house. He put his name ahead of JFK’s on the Kennedy Center, which he is closing down due to cancelled subscriptions, cancelled acts and low attendance. The DOJ is acting as his personal law firm, going after his perceived enemies, despite the fact that courts keep throwing out his frivolous lawsuits, despite the fact that grand juries keep denying indictments, and he keeps trying to install federal prosecutors who haven’t been confirmed by Congress.
Tell us, Turley WHY should patriotic Americans NOT be outraged? If you love this country and understand the sacrifices that brought us about, your normal reaction to Trump and MAGA should be outrage.
Another deranged 10,000-word diatribe by Gigi that nobody will read.
Of all the things I didn’t read today I didn’t read this comment the most.
My recommendation for you is to go for long walks and breath the air and not think about politics. It will increase your life span, but your obsessive hatred of those with whom you disagree will shorten your life.
I find the actions by this restaurant to be repulsive. These poor pathetic people were uncomfortable because someone with different political views was eating in the restaurant they work in. The restaurant owners are spineless. We are at an impasse in our country that only a full on civil war can provide a proper reset. We on the right have been tolerant for to long. It is time to start using the same tactics against the left that they use on us. We must begin to push back hard. I really hope the American Patriots in Little Rock bankrupt this restaurant.
Threeper Rob: it’s not a matter of “someone with different political views”–it’s what Trump and MAGA stand for, which most Americans oppose. It’s the lying, It’s Trump’s authoritarianism, his profiteering from the presidency, it’s his misogyny, racism, abuse of migrants, abuses by ICE, killing and tear-gassing American citizens who protest against ICE, the concentration camps, lying about releasing the Epstein files, covering up for wealthy and powerful men who abused chidren and exposing the victims, and the wholesale take-over of the DOJ by Trump to go after his enemies. And, it was not just the workers–other customers at the restaurant were uncomfortable, too. Historically, Americans of all political persuasions have been generally tolerant of those with different political views–but Trumpism and MAGA transcend politics. He is trying to be a king, believing he can do whatever he wants, and we won’t have it. MAGA is trying to rig elections, trying to disenfranchise voters who might vote against them, based on lies about nonexistent widespread voter fraud. We won’t have it. Trump started a war based on a lie and allegiance to wealthy Jews who gave him money and UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar that gave him a luxury jet. 13 American service members are dead now, based on a lie. MAGA and “the right” are not synonymous. MAGA is a distinct minority, and many Republicans oppose Trump and MAGA. And, do you hear what you are saying? You WANT a civil war?
Cry harder Gigi, we can’t hear you.
I find it humorous that Googoo always thinks people supporting MAGA are the minority…
That’s why Trump was elected Googoo, it’s called a majority.
Although, she could be counting all her multiple personalities….
My guess is you’ve used the synonym “MAGA” too many times today, so go out and walk in the fresh air. . .or have more bran in your diet.
…..says the guy who literally caters to ‘the rage’ daily in this insipid blog.
It is too bad that the common law rule that applies to hotels does not apply to restaurants.
OT
“Goofy Gavin’s” Wifey
“There’s so much to learn from same-sex couples.”
“The folks on the far right … they’re living in this silo, this evangelical, conservative silo that ultimately is pulling us back as a country to a time and a place where we don’t deserve to be and we’re not going to be….”
– Jennifer Siebel Newsom
Just an edit with a few changes. . . .“The folks on the far left … they’re living in this silo, this agnostic liberal silo that ultimately is pulling us back as a country to a time and a place where we don’t deserve to be and we’re not going to be….”
One would think that given the overt political partisanship by the staff and owners, the restaurant management would have the honest courtesy to have the host or hostess discretely inquire as to the politics of any prospective patron in order to preserve the purity of the ambience, cutlery, and furniture of the establishment. I shudder to think of the poor person who, perhaps even that evening or the next day, is seated on the very same chair as the governor! And I certainly hope that the cutlery used by the governor was double washed to ensure that even the slightest molecular trace of the governor had been removed. And my gosh the air! People may be breathing in the same air molecules that the governor exhaled! This visitation by the governor must have been quite alarming particularly having customers and staff witnessing that she, despite all well known and established facts, was behaving as a civilized human!
Turley: “This restaurant yielded to hate and intolerance to appease not only its employees but the radical left.”
Is it wrong to suspect this place is staffed with PhDs in Women’s Studies?
It’s disgusting, and that is all it is. That these people can’t see their prejudice is frankly, shocking.
OT
Epsteino!
“Labor organizations drop Cesar Chavez celebrations after sexual abuse allegations”
“An investigation, released by the New York Times, found that Chavez allegedly raped and molested several underage girls, grooming some beginning when they were eight or nine years old. He was also alleged to have raped several women and allies, such as Dolores Huerta, his most prominent female ally in labor activism.”
– Washington Examiner
May that business fail. They are morally the same as nazis
@Alank
Or at the least segregationists. I do not like to wish ill on others, but I also hope they fail, it’s absurd. And if they do, I doubt they will reconsider a damn thing. This is where we are, and I do not want to hear the screeching – it is JUST the modern left. Period. Too many of these people are simply hateful and unwell, and so insular and inculcated they don’t even realize what they are doing or who they are doing it for.
James,
Actually it reminds me of HRC when she lost to Trump. She and they blamed suburban white women who would only obey their misogynist husbands in who to vote for, sexism, whatever-ism. The one person she would not blame was herself. That little “deplorables” comment alienated half of the country. She was not likeable. Her campaign was a hot mess, so much so, NPR (shocking, I know) ran a article about how many times can they “reintroduce” her.
And she lost.
This restaurant, if they fail, will the reconsider or even consider their decision to ask governor Sanders to leave was the reason?
Or blame someone or something else?
“This restaurant, if they fail, will the reconsider or even consider their decision to ask governor Sanders to leave was the reason?
Or blame someone or something else?”
They deserve to fail. With that justice delivered, should we care what the owners blame it on? Let them open another restaurant under the influence of their delusions, and fail again, and lose ever more money.
The National Rifle Assn needs to get 100 members to show up at this restaurant. . . . with side arms at their side.
Upstate,
Isn’t that one of the fundamental problems in America today, that virtually no one wants to accept responsibility for their actions, what they say, etc?
Sadly, too many folks today lack self-awareness, self-reflection and introspection. Everything’s about feelings and emotions — totally devoid of logic.
Paul Harvey, in his 1965 “If I were the Devil: How to Destroy America”, he suggests the devil would admonish schools to discourage things like self-dicipline, but encourage emotions to run wild.
Well, here we are…
Sadly, the liberals today would accuse Paul Harvey of being a pre-Trump supporter.
James,
Concerning hate, you might find this interesting, There’s a reason the Left seems more psychologically distressed than the Right
“As a therapist, I’ve seen it first hand: only on one side of the divide is emotional pain rewarded or turned into a political weapon”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/14/psychological-reason-behind-growing-left-wing-extremism/
@Upstate
Oh, I’m familiar, and I agree. Even at a basic level, spending the days of a life actively looking for new grievances is not healthy by any stretch. TDS is a real disorder at this point. Hate = love is the motto of the modern left, and they are too stupid to see the dichotomy.
That is the kicker for me: there is not a dang thing wrong, objectively, in any of these people’s lives, they apparently have mounds of time to engage in their obstinacy, and they miss the fact that they live somewhere that is even a possibility and mindlessly beg for its opposite, not realizing the implications one whit. It’s a mess.
The tendency of white liberals to make false equivalencies between cultures and systems cannot be overstated, and it’s due to their levels of comfort, IMO, second only to generational ignorance. Geopolitics is not their strong suit, and it’s largely because they only live in relation to other privileged white people that share their myopia, their circles are infinitesimally small, and repetitive thoughts ricochet like boomerangs or bullets within that structure.
Appreciate your sentience and salience as always, though, thank you. I have mentioned before that my family has a home upstate there (bought when it was cheap, not erudite elitist looking for respite – we are talking 80 years ago), and NYis in bad shape, all around. You are certainly stalwart.
Not telling what they adulterated Gov. Huckabee’s food with. Yikes! The vast majority of culinary industry professionals and employees are rabid liberals. This goes for the wine and spirits industry. Just look at social media comments to posts about tariffs from the wine industry lobby. Pretty stupid IMHO.
It never fails to amaze me how many business owners are eager to alienate half of their potential customers base. As Michael Jordan famously said, “Republicans buy sneakers too.”
It’s satisfying to push people around especially those in high places. It must feel like power. The mind is a strange thing and slogans, phrases nest in the subconscious mind. This is an example of the phrase “speak truth to power”. It percolated into, get out or get out of my restaurant. The office of governor was asked to leave.
The sun will come up tomorrow
Sanders won the governor race in 2022 by a margin of over 25%. The FOOLish voters of AR, like the nasty diners mentioned in this article and the owners of the soon-to-fail cafe, are in the super minority! Let’s hope good and decent voters make her governor again – by and even larger margin – and show up those who fail to think and act like Americans.
To me, it seems the problem is grownups who are grownup not knowing how to act like grownups…. rather like spoiled brats.