Sarah Huckabee Sanders Says She Was Booted From Arkansas Restaurant in Déjà Vu Moment

In a scenario reminiscent of her time in the White House during the first Trump administration, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders says she was asked to leave a restaurant in her home state of Arkansas due to her political views.The most recent incident occurred last week at a Little Rock restaurant, although the governor and the owners are giving differing views of what happened.Ms. Sanders says she was at The Croissanterie for lunch with “two other moms” when the owner approached a member of her state police protection detail saying her “presence made their employees feel threatened and told us to leave.”The governor’s staff added that a man allegedly yelled, “It’s time to go,” and made a crude hand gesture as Ms. Sanders started to depart.The two female restaurant owners issued a statement with their own version of the incident. The owners said they were “surprised and uncertain how best to respond” when they found out Ms. Sanders was in the restaurant. They said she was already seated and eating when they went to the dining room and they chose not to interrupt her “expecting that the party would complete their meal and depart without issue.”The owners said, however, that as the security team became “widely noticed” by guests and employees, questions were raised about the governor remaining in the restaurant. “As business owners and members of this community, we recognized that any course of action carried consequences. Allowing her to stay risked being perceived as a lack of support for the community that makes up the majority of our team, as well as their families and friends. Conversely, asking her to leave could be viewed as denying service based on differing beliefs,” they stated.They said they ultimately decided to “support their employees and guests” who said they were uncomfortable but they say they did not recall any statements indicating anyone felt threatened.The restaurant claims a member of the security detail was approached after about an hour and asked to encourage the governor to end her visit since she was finished eating. The governor stayed, however, and as the restaurant’s 90-minute seating limit neared, they reached out to the security team again.The owners said it was a customer and not a staff member who made the gesture toward Ms. Sanders. The restaurant said the governor “departed without incident” after being informed of the time limit ending.“We regret being placed in this position and having to make a difficult decision,” the owners said in their statement. “However, we stand by our choice to support our employees and guests.”“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,” Ms. Sanders said in a statement about the incident.In June 2018, while serving as President Trump’s White House press secretary, Ms. Sanders said the owner of The Red Hen restaurant at Lexington, Virginia asked her and her family to leave because she worked for Mr. Trump.Ms. Sanders posted about that encounter on social media and said that the owner’s “actions say far more about her than about me.” The restaurant’s co-owner, Stephanie Wilkinson, told the Washington Post that she kicked Ms. Sanders out because gay employees were upset that Ms. Sanders had defended Trump’s desire to bar transgender people from serving in the military.Other Trump administration officials were also confronted in restaurants during his first term, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Protesters shouted, “Shame!” until she left a popular Washington, D.C. Mexican restaurant. Policy adviser Stephen Miller was accosted by someone yelling “fascist” at him in another Mexican restaurant in the city.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Says She Was Booted From Arkansas Restaurant in Déjà Vu Moment

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