Sen. Rand Paul and several other Republican members of Congress showed up at a Washington, D.C., restaurant known for defying COVID-19 vaccination and masking mandates to show support for the establishment just hours after it was given a shutdown notice.
Paul and members of his staff devoured burgers at The Big Board, a restaurant they had planned to visit last week in a show of support that had already received violation warnings for openly refusing to check patrons’ vaccination statuses, had been fined for its staff not wearing masks, and had its liquor license revoked. But about an hour before Paul arrived, the city’s health department slapped a shutdown notice on the restaurant’s front door.
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“It’s a big decision — civil resistance, civil disobedience — when you lose your livelihood. So I’m incredibly proud of him,” the Kentucky Republican told the Washington Examiner, referring to Big Board co-owner Eric Flannery.
Asked what his message was to Mayor Murial Bowser, Paul said, “Impeach Muriel Bowser!” He added that he has introduced legislation to take away the city’s power to impose the mandates.
DC RESTAURANT THAT DEFIED COVID-19 MANDATES FORCED TO CLOSE
Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie said if more people would participate in similar civil disobedience over the mandates, “it’d be unenforceable.”
“I would encourage more people to do it,” Massie said. “Each person, I think, needs to push back to the ability of their means, and not everybody can afford to lose their job over this.”
Flannery, speaking to a crowd of staffers and reporters with tears in his eyes, said he plans to appeal the decision.
“When people asked me, ‘What are you going to get on the other side of this?’ I don’t know. I just know that I’m doing the right thing,” Flannery said.
“I decided that this bar was going to be what it is, which is a place where everybody is welcome,” Flannery said. “My servers, they are not less or people that need to be masked. They don’t carry disease. They wash their hands. They’re clean. They follow the health guidance.”
A D.C. Health Department inspection report from Jan. 19 noted multiple code violations not related to COVID-19 mandates.
Patrons flooded the restaurant for one last hurrah Tuesday night.
In addition to Massie and Paul, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, and Ronny Jackson of Texas went to The Big Board on Tuesday.
Other lawmakers did not attend but expressed outrage on social media.
Unbelievable. The DC Democrats are spending all of their time and resources destroying local business. This isn’t about health. This is about power and punishing anyone who won’t submit to their arbitrary decisions. https://t.co/6SMoy2rD58
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 2, 2022
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The show of support for the restaurant is just the latest public stance that Republican congressmen have taken in light of the city requiring that patrons show proof of vaccination.
Paul and other lawmakers have protested a key establishment that has chosen to enforce it. In January, Paul said that he would “quit” the Capitol Hill Club, the premier Republican membership club located next door to the Republican National Committee, over its enforcement of the vaccine requirement.
