A Virginia restaurant’s decision to not serve White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders reverberated throughout Washington on Monday, as President Trump seized on the story and Democratic leaders sought to distance their party from a liberal firebrand’s decision to cheer it on.
Trump focused on the brewing controversy as a way to shift the focus from his administration’s “zero tolerance” border policy and onto the actions of his fiercest critics.
The president tweeted his disgust on Monday morning with The Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Va., and then followed his missive up with an attack on Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who over the weekend urged other opponents of the president to confront administration officials in public.
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In doing so, Trump used the kind of insults that have a part of his political brand, even though they added to a tone of incivility that many saw the Virginia restaurant owner as worsening with her actions toward Sanders.
“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,” Trump wrote in the first tweet.
Later, the president took aim at Waters, calling her “low IQ,” and insinuating she might be subject to harassment as a result of her own comments.
“(Waters) has just called for harm to supporters, of which there are many, of the Make America Great Again movement,” Trump tweeted. “Be careful what you wish for Max!”
Sanders also leaned into the controversy at the outset of Monday’s press briefing, underscoring the administration’s desire to score points on Democrats over the issue.
“We are allowed to disagree, but we should be able to do so freely and without fear of harm,” she said. “And this goes for all people regardless of politics.”
“Healthy debate on ideas and political philosophy is important, but the calls for harassment and push for any Trump supporter to avoid the public is unacceptable,” she added.
Those remarks were a nod toward Waters, who in a weekend speech had urged Trump critics to confront officials in restaurants, gas stations or shopping centers.
“For these members of his Cabinet who remain and try to defend him they’re not going to be able to go to a restaurant, they’re not going to be able to stop at a gas station, they’re not going to be able to shop at a department store, the people are going to turn on them, they’re going to protest, they’re going to absolutely harass them until they decide that they’re going to tell the president ‘No, I can’t hang with you, this is wrong, this is unconscionable and we can’t keep doing this to children,’ ” she said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) gently pushed back at Waters, seemingly recognizing that the remarks could backfire.
Schumer in a speech on the Senate floor criticized the harassment of political opponents as “not American.”
He said he understands Democrats’ frustrations given Trump’s tone and insults.
“But the president’s tactics and behavior should never be emulated,” Schumer said. “It should be repudiated by organized, well-informed and passionate advocacy.”
Pelosi criticized Trump for a “daily lack of civility,” but labeled tit-for-tat responses “unacceptable” and called for national unity.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a prospective 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, welcomed respectful protests of Trump administration officials, but appeared to reject Waters’s rhetoric.
“We’ve got to get to a point in our country where we can talk to each other, where we are all seeking a more beloved community,” he said on MSNBC. “And some of those tactics that people are advocating for, to me, don’t reflect that spirit.”
Republicans clearly saw the restaurant dispute and the Waters remarks as a political lifeline after a brutal week dominated by global criticism of Trump’s zero tolerance policy, which had resulted in children being separated from their parents. Trump retreated on that policy by issuing an executive order last week ending it.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said his daughter was the victim of “bigotry.” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called Sanders’s removal “hypocrisy” from liberals. Other conservatives called for a boycott of The Red Hen.
Trump retweeted Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who wrote that Trump’s opponents “help him with their irrational hostility towards those who work for him.”
Democrats, for their part, often seemed frustrated.
Many believe that Trump and his allies invite rude behavior with their own actions, and that the president in particular has coarsened public discourse while contributing to political polarization.
At the same time, there are growing worries that the anger of the so-called resistance to Trump could end up hurting Democrats.
It’s a subject that has been heavily discussed following Robert De Niro’s “F— Trump” fusillade from the stage of the Tony Awards, and comedian Samantha Bee’s use of the “c-word” to describe Ivanka Trump.
Democrats are depending on their base to come out this fall to win back the House majority, but they also are worried about firing up the president’s base.
Former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), who once led the House Democratic campaign arm, said the “better alternative” for The Red Hen owner “would have been to let Sanders know the owner was donating the price of her meal to elect Democrats who would stop Trump and thank Sanders for her generosity to the resistance.”
While Israel acknowledged that on a moral level he understands why Sanders was asked to leave he said he worries that “these tactics further divide the country.”
Amie Parnes contributed.