When a bar called Midtown Tavern in Montana decided not to host Donald Trump Jr. for a political rally, it immediately drew comparison to the Red Hen restaurant controversy. Aside from culinary similarities though, the two cases couldn’t be more different, and conservatives should stand behind the bar.
The Red Hen is a yuppie, farm-to-table place in Lexington, Va., which suddenly and stupidly became the focus of the political world for a couple weeks in June. The chicken shop decided to join the #resistance when its owner refused to serve artisanal chicken dishes to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her family.
“I’m not a huge fan of confrontation,” Stephanie Wilkinson told the Washington Post after being so brave as to kick Sanders, her husband, and three children out of the restaurant. “I have a business, and I want the business to thrive. This feels like the moment in our democracy when people have to make uncomfortable actions and decisions to uphold their morals.”
But that act of courage was actually explicit discrimination. Look at what Wilkinson said. She didn’t serve Sanders because she doesn’t like who Sanders works for and what Sanders believes in.
Now compare this to what’s happening in Montana right now.
Midtown Tavern didn’t kick out Trump Jr. because of who his father is or what his personal views are. The bar decided not to host a political event because they didn’t want to be tarred and feathered by screeching partisans.
“That’s just not who we are,” manager Jeff Wilcox told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. “We just try to stay politically neutral,” he explained before adding, just in case anyone was confused, “We are a restaurant.”
If Trump Jr. wanted to swing by the tavern for a beer or a burger after one of his many hunting trips in the state, presumably the staff would serve him. There isn’t anything in the manager’s statement to suggest otherwise. The restaurant only backed out because Trump Jr. wanted to host a rally for Republican Senate hopeful Matt Rosendale.
“We definitely don’t want to take political sides,” Wilcox reiterated. “That’s never our intention.” It wasn’t a matter of conscience in this case. Just a business question. But all the same, the restaurant didn’t want to get wrapped up in a political event that would give the appearance of favoring one candidate over the other.
And that is just fine, because in both cases, the market solved the problem. Sanders sent her family across the street for food. Trump Jr. and Rosendale have reportedly moved their rally to the local fair grounds. Even though all parties ended up or, will end up, fed, there is still an important lesson to be learned from the dual episodes.
Conservatives should shrug and realize that if they don’t want the state to compel a baker to make a gay wedding cake, they shouldn’t have a cow when a burger place declines service. Liberals, conversely, should recognized that this denial of service wasn’t bigotry. It was a refusal to participate in an overtly political event that would have hurt their business model.
No need for a food fight — just a little understanding on both sides.
