Sarah Huckabee Sanders' Restaurant Debacle Isn't Her First Time Sparring With Local Business

While she may be the governor of Arkansas, not everyone in Arkansas is a fan of Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Folks made that fact abundantly clear last week when Sanders was asked to leave a local restaurant when patrons apparently did not think her presence was a present. This is surely embarrassing for Sanders, but believe it or not, when it comes to getting kicked out of a restaurant thanks to her views, she's been there, done that.

With Arkansas State Police protection detail in tow, Sanders headed to The Croissanterie, a Little Rock restaurant, for lunch on March 13. In a statement, Sanders' spokesperson said that, after she and her group had already paid, the restaurant's owner "approached a member of the Governor's Executive Protection Detail and asked the governor to leave because her presence was 'making employees threatened and uncomfortable' because of her political views," per KARK. They added that as Sanders then got ready to leave, someone in the restaurant "yelled 'It's time to go' and made a crude hand gesture in the governor's direction." 

"It's the Red Hen all over again," wrote Daily Wire's Editor-in-Chief Brent Scher on X, formerly known as Twitter, about the incident. And the journalist surely wasn't the only person to recall the last time Sanders' MAGA cred got her booted from a restaurant. Back in 2018, the owner of Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, kicked her out because she was associated with Donald Trump.

On both occasions when she was asked to leave restaurants, Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded on X. "... I was told by the owner of Red Hen... to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left," Sanders tweeted in 2018, per USA Today. "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," she added. 

Now, eight years later, Sanders is surely having déjà vu. "...I was having lunch with two other moms at a restaurant when the owner... said my presence made their employees feel threatened and told us to leave," she wrote on X earlier today. She also noted, "Arkansans are known for their warm hospitality, and while that restaurant didn't meet that standard, my administration will continue to focus on lifting Arkansans up, not tearing others down." 

Sanders is clearly bitter about getting driven out of another restaurant. Yet, the incident may not be bad news for The Croissanterie. Many MAGA folks, including Donald Trump, railed against Red Hen at the time. The next year, though, Red Hen's co-owner, Stephanie Wilkinson, wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post. "After nearly a year, I'm happy to say that business is still good. Better than good, actually," adding, "...To everyone who might be fearful about taking a stand, I say don't be. Resistance is not futile, for you or your business."