Sarah Sanders (Press sec for Trump) asked to leave a restaurant

[Bingpot]

Just wanted to gather thoughts on this one as I'm not sure what I think.

Sarah Sanders is Trump's press secretary. She was politely asked to leave a restaurant over the weekend, following a staff vote (ostensibly in protest over the recent news over the Trump administration's treatment of immigrants).

Any thoughts?

So, you see, this is where it can so easily get confused. It’s better to avoid going there in the first place. Be not like your enemy lest you become one.

Let me say this one more time, in as simple terms as possible.

The First Amendment protects citizens rights to peaceably protest/disagree with/speak out against its government and policies without fear of retribution or retaliation from the government.

The owner of the Red Hen was exercising her First Amendment rights when she asked Sanders to leave because she doesn't believe in the policies she upholds, because she is a public figure that represents the government of the United States. This responsibility doesn't turn off when she leaves the office at night. She knew this when she accepted the role.

I'm sure Sanders isn't the first politician/attaché to be asked to leave an establishment because of the owners disagreement with the policies they support. I would think that most politicians have experienced something akin before. It's part and parcel of the job.

What is reprehensible here is not what the owner of the Red Hen did, it's that Sanders tweeted it publically after the incidence. That is in violation of the first amendment. She is a representative of the government and calling out the restaurant for exercising their constitutional right, whether your agree with how they did it or not, is an act of retribution/retaliation. She knew how Trump supporters would react and the attention it would receive. She used her public platform and persona to intimidate and reprimand a private US citizen for their beliefs.

That's fucking reprehensible.

this is where it can so easily get confused.

But it's not easily confused. It's pretty damned clear in law and in common sense.

The right is purposely trying to muddy the waters so that they can justify their own mass discrimination of minority populations. But it's not the same.

The slippery slope back to "White Only" cafes isn't the actions of the owner of the Red Hen, it's Trump's policies against minorities and immigrants.

I think it’s great and funny! Good for them, it reminds me of the audience and cast of Hamilton making their feelings felt.

I agree with PP- it’s absolutely her right to protest peacefully by asking SHS to leave. SHS can be under no illusions that she helps perpetuate huge divisions in her country by justifying and attempting to normalise the actions of this administration. I can not believe that she doesn’t get abuse hurled at her everywhere she goes and should have learned to accept it by now as her cross to bear.

It is not right that she and now Trump himself have named and shamed the restaurant, knowing as they do the voracity of their base and the febrile atmosphere that exists today in the USA. It has a distinct whiff of the SA in 1930s Germany.

We used to get into people's faces to make change happen. We can't keep being bullied. And getting into people's faces isn't bullying in and of itself?

Right Hulk.

Salman Rushdie - Absolutely. Again, as long as it's because of what he's said/done, not just cause he's of Persian decent.

You’re okay with the persecution of Muslim apostates? Wow, you’re really not a very nice person are you. Very brave of you to admit

TERF or trans, same as burka/niqab.

But TERFS are overtly political. They have political aims, things they want to achieve. And they actively decide to have them and campaign for them. Just like Sanders.

Surely you can’t be silly enough to see that as a passive process of not doing anything? Again, you approve of them enough to give them a pass. (I also agree with them but that’s an entirely different matter). You do realise a lot of TRAs try and deny service and the right to meet or use facilities to TERFs. And those TRAs would use the same argument, that they have unacceptable opinions which make them a legitimate target. The only difference is that you approve of one and not the other. Which is what this is all about; a belief that those whose political opinions differ from our own are fair game for extra judicial punishment while going about their daily business.

*that.

Burqa & niqab - this is discrimination, as the person being asked to leave is being asked to leave because of a perception of their religion/beliefs, not because of anything they have actually said or done.

But Sarah Sanders was asked to leave because of her beliefs. And it is something that person has done, she made a choice that morning to put on clothes which signal she is a very Conservative Muslim. And that upsets a lot of people and makes them uncomfortable. So basically what you are saying is that because you don’t disapprove of Conservative Islam you think if people object to things Conservative Muslims do which make people upset and uncomfortable that’s fine. But Conservative Republicans are problematic for you even though they tend to have loads in common

Sorry, slightly shitty cut and paste in the last para there.

Oh and BTW hulk, Rushdie is a Kashmiri Indian, not an Iranian which is the correct term for Persians these days.

Persian is sometimes considered a bit racist. Mistaking Indians for Iranians is definitely racist. HTH. Wouldn’t like to see you getting kicked out of a curry house for ordering a falafel.

Well have to disagree on this one, Hulk. I agree with you that Sanders shouldn’t have tweeted about the Red Hen - that sparked off the stupid non-story to begin with (and took the heat away from immigration for a bit) - but as for the rest, no. We can never win using the same tactics and politics as the other side. We need to be more intelligent than that; we are.

For every restaurant Sanders isn’t asked to leave, I’ll bet the kitchen and wait staff have a lot less bogies by the time she finishes dessert.

SHS wasn’t asked to leave because of her beliefs, she was asked to leave because of her actions.

I think this whole incident was a set up. We have the midterms coming up. Timing couldn't have been better

I'm glad I'm not the only one that occurred to, and I'm not even American

Looking ahead it will be fascinating to see what happens if Trump gets reelected ... Mumsnet will probably implode for a start

I think this whole incident was a set up. We have the midterms coming up. Timing couldn't have been better

Or a distract from the separations/first lady style choices?

I'm not sure though, it seems from polls that Trump voters are not really changing their opinions regardless of chaos day to day, whilst those very against Trump are obviously not being encouraged to change their minds!

Midterms will be interesting.

Good god a re-election, I honestly may fall off my world! I wouldn't rule it out (eek!) because obviously ruling it out was a mistake many made the first time and I am listening and hearing more about why people voted that way, it's not all crazy unreasonable stereotype.

I'm hoping for a Joe Biden run, partly because I love him, such a good guy, plus I think he has a better chance than Ms Clinton, who was a bit odds against her by reputation and events from the start. Biden is a hard guy to dislike!

I wonder if she has any empathy with people who are now banned from coming to America under the Travel Ban that that was confirmed by the Supreme Court today?

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/26/trump-supreme-court-upholds-travel-ban

@kalapattar Almost certainly not.

Well done restaurant. Serves her right for being the spokeswoman for such an immoral and basically useless President. Hopefully more restaurants will adopt the same approach.

Well at least the President had a dignified response to the incident 😂

He 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!"

Wow LeahJack that's quite a paragraph of conjecture & assumption. You should go work for the Trump administration, I'm sure they'll be looking for a new Press Secretary soon.

Also, sorry, I thought Rushdie was from Iran or Iraq, hence the Persian. I am mistaking his birthplace with the countries that have a death sentence against him. And it's not racist to confuse one nationality with another. If it was, I'd be a victim of racism on a daily basis.

TheClaws Yes, we will have to agree to disagree. I don't view it as the same tactics. The right does blanket bans based on race, religion, gender, sexuality, etc, as a form of control/intimidation. The left bans individuals based on their actions, not their beliefs as a form of protest/disagreement.

As it stands, the tactics the left has been using aren't working, we need to do more.

Gary Younge's piece in the Guardian today addresses the issue much better than I can:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/26/donald-trump-sarah-huckabee-sanders-red-hen-restaurant