In yet more juice to the story of a Primanti Brothers location in Pennsylvania temporarily refusing Senator and 2024 Trump running mate JD Vance entry and, allegedly, threatening to call the police, conservatives on X are calling for a “massive boycott” of all chains owned by the parent company of the chain, which would mean boycotting a slew of different restaurant chains.
Describing the incident, a local attorney, Sean Logue, witnessed the incident and described what happened, saying, “J.D. Vance’s SUV pulls up, Secret Service comes into the restaurant, Secret Service guards the area between the SUV and the entrance to the restaurant. J.D. Vance, he gets out, and then the manager runs out and yells at him and says, you can’t come in here.”
As might be expected, the chain immediately faced online fury, so it tried to get out of the doghouse with the right by apologizing, yet did so without actually apologizing. Beginning its semi-apology and explanation, the chain said, “PRIMANTI’S PRIDES ITSELF ON BEING A STAPLE OF THE PITTSBURGH COMMUNITY AND A PROUD AMERICAN BUSINESS THAT HAS HOSTED SITTING PRESIDENTS, POLITICIANS, AND POLITICAL CANDIDATES FROM ACROSS THE SPECTRUM FOR OVER 90 YEARS. OUR DOORS ARE OPEN TO ALL PATRONS WHO WISH TO DINE WITH US.”
Continuing, it tried to explain away the incident, saying, “WITHOUT ANY ADVANCE NOTICE, TODAY’S CAMPAIGN STOP CAUSED SOME MOMENTARY CONFUSION FOR OUR STAFF. HOWEVER, SENATOR VANCE AND HIS TEAM WERE WELCOMED INTO OUR RESTAURANT SHORTLY AFTER AND ENGAGED WITH OUR GUESTS INSIDE AND ON THE PROPERTY. SENATOR VANCE’S SUPPORTIVE COMMENTS THAT OUR MANAGER GOT A LITTLE NERVOUS GIVEN THE SECRET SERVICE, POLICE AND CROWD ACCURATELY REFLECT THE NATURE OF WHAT OCCURRED, AND WE ARE GLAD THAT IT WAS RESOLVED QUICKLY.”
Predictably, that wasn’t anywhere near enough to get the dogs off its scent, with many of those who sounded off on Pimanti Brothers even using the apology against the restaurant, declaring that it was a fake apology and not worth considering while boycotting the restaurant chain over how it treated Sen. Vance.
Among those who included a screenshot of the fake apology while sounding off and calling for a boycott of all the chains owned by the parent company that owns Pimanti Brothers was Josh Cremeans, who wrote, including in his tweet pictures and videos of the incident, “Massive Boycott Called: Primanti Bros restaurant in Pittsburgh, PA refused to let JD Vance in to greet his Supporters! What followed is a full out call to boycott the restaurant’s owners Authentic Restaurant Brands and their affiliated restaurants. Despite the manager’s insistence they would call the police if Vance entered, JD handled it with class!”
He added, “Last month Primanti Brothers kicked out all their patrons and brought in paid actors when Kamala Harris was visiting their restaurant. Brands owned by Authentic Restaurant Brands are Pollo Tropical, PJ Welihan’s and Mambo Seafood. So I’m Checking Pollo Tropical off the eating list. The others I’ve never been to and thankfully, now I won’t have to.”
Similarly, another account, the Liberal Lampoon, called attention to all the restaurants owned by the parent company and said, “Primanti Brothers is owned by Authentic Restaurant Brands. Last month Primanti Brothers kicked out all their patrons and brought in paid actors when Kamala Harris was visiting their restaurant. Today, Primanti Brothers stopped JD Vance from entering their establishment after the Trump Vance campaign bought all the patrons food and drinks. Other brands owned by Authentic Restaurant Brands is Pollo Tropical, PJ Welihan’s and Mambo Seafood.
That account continued, saying that it would be good for MAGA to support pro-MAGA businesses, “It would be a shame if all of MAGA boycotted Primanti Brothers and the rest of their brands. I’m sure there are many locally owned restaurants that would appreciate the business from MAGA and JD Vance.”
Another account, I Meme Therefore I Am, called for people to treat the chain like Bud Light, writing, “Last month, Primanti Bros restaurant in Pennsylvania cleared out patrons to make room for a Kamala Harris campaign event, and yesterday they refused to allow JD Vance in to greet his supporters. Looks like Primanti Bros needs to be Bud Lighted.”
Watch Vance shut down a woke reporter below:
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