The popular homestay network Airbnb is entering hot water with Trump supporters.
After recently imposing an anti-discrimination policy to discourage racism and bigotry among its hosts, the property-rental app is now faced with another issue — anti-Trump bias.
According to the Huffington Post, potential Airbnb hosts in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area are pulling listings from the thousands of Trump fans, who are expected to converge on the city during the President-elect’s inauguration in January.
Their reasoning? They can’t stand Trump supporters.
Cancellation rates are hovering around 70 percent in the DC Metro area, yet many DC homeowners say they’re “conflicted” about hosting Trump supporters.
“I have a visceral reaction to the thought of having a Trump supporter in my house,” Lobna told HuffPost. She was planning on renting one of three of her bedrooms to an inauguration guest if Hillary Clinton had won the election.
She continued. “No amount of money could make me change my mind. It’s about moral principles.”
Karl Scarlett, owner of an Airbnb rental management company Great Dwellings, said that he had 90 cancellations on roughly 100 properties.
When asked why they were cancelling, he said, “Every single one of them had expected a different outcome.”
Crystal Davis, an Airbnb spokesperson, said rates were averaging $125 per night for inauguration week. Yet, some Airbnb rental management companies said they were seeing rates in the $600 to $800 range, others up to $2,000 per night. Some rental properties have seen a 600 percent increase since Trump was elected.
Rather than embrace capitalism and make a killing during inauguration week by hosting fans who are desperate to see the next president get sworn in, they’d rather sit on their hands and pout. I guess that’s socialism for ya.
