A small restaurant in Virginia is suddenly at the center of a political firestorm after an owner asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave. See what it's like inside.
- White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Saturday that she was asked to leave a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, because she works for President Donald Trump.
- The incident caused an uproar on Twitter and other social-media platforms. While some have come out in support of The Red Hen, others are furious about its co-owner's decision to kick Sanders out.
- Trump made an attack on the restaurant on Twitter on Monday, claiming it "badly needs a paint job."
Thousands of people - including President Donald Trump himself - have taken to social media to offer their opinion of a small-town Virginian restaurant that kicked out White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders over the weekend.
Sanders said on Saturday that she was asked to leave The Red Hen, a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, because she worked for Trump. One of the owners told the Washington Post that it was Trump's policies, which she called "inhumane and unethical," that had prompted them to deny service to 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. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!" Trump tweeted on Monday.
The restaurant's decision to throw out Sanders has divided the internet. Some angry consumers are comparing it to America's history of racial segregation.
"I remember the days when certain people in the south were not allowed to eat in restaurants. Looks like nothing has changed with the southern democrat crowd," one Yelp user wrote online.
Others have come out in support of the restaurant and are using the incident to boycott the Trump administration in the wake of controversy over its border policies.
"This place is NOT for serial Liars. Caging asylum seekers children and pretending it is humane is not okay. Dine elsewhere. America did have higher standards. The White House changed that. We will claim it back," one customer wrote on Red Hen's Facebook page.
"I've never been to Virginia. Recent events make we want to travel there just to patronize your wonderful restaurant!!! Thank you for your authenticity and integrity!!!" another wrote.
Angry customers have swarmed the restaurant's Yelp page to leave politically focused reviews. Yelp has posted an alert to inform customers that the page is now in "Active Cleanup" mode. This means that any review that is only related to the news event and not the food or service of the restaurant may be removed.
See inside the restaurant that's at the center of the controversy: