On March 1, 2026, at a Smoothie King franchise in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jacob Lindemyer and his wife, Erika, were refused service because of his “Trump 2024 – Take America Back” hoodie, with employees expressing discomfort and explicitly stating they don’t serve Trump supporters.
The video captured the confrontation and went viral. The franchise owner fired the two employees after an investigation; Smoothie King apologized multiple times, emphasized its no-discrimination policy, and mandated retraining. Lindemyer reported thousands of threatening messages, death threats to his family, and harassment.
Speaking to local media, Jacob Lindemyer explained the devastating personal cost of the situation. “My kids aren’t in school right now. We’ve kept our kids home. My daughter is getting harassed. Her safety is being threatened. She’s getting death threats,” the patriotic man described.
“She and I are getting messages saying, ‘You better watch your back. We know where you live.’ And this is like thousands and thousands of messages. We’ve worked so hard to get where we’re at now. I’m entirely different than I used to be. A lot of these people are trying to bring up my past, like things from ten years ago, ‘Look, this is who he is.’ My character has been completely smashed,” he pointed out
Erika Lindemyer, his wife, during the encounter itself, pointed out that the situation was “discrimination” and “illegal.” Nonetheless, the disrespectful employees stated, “I don’t care. Like, have a great day. Get out, and, “We’re not serving Trump supporters. You have a great day.”
Janiyah Mishelle, one of the fired employees, gave a statement to Fox News. “My political opinions are very complex. I do not stand on behalf of any political party. I merely refused service because of the alleged affiliations the Trump administration has to [pedophiles],” the entitled woman claimed.
Still not done, she alleged, “I believe in the United States & want to see our citizens standing up against binary political logic. In my opinion, in this specific instance, I had the right to refuse service due to discomfort with a customer interaction – just as he had the right to wear the political merchandise.”
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Concluding her comments, she asserted, “I would like to clarify that my statements were/are NOT on behalf of Smoothie King. I would also like to thank everyone who is currently supporting me through the digital harassment, political re-framing, and job-loss.”
Adding context: an official statement from Smoothie King provided insight into the reaction. “The local owner is also taking further action and enforcing mandatory training for all employees that outlines our guest experience standards,” the statement read.
Reacting to the situation, conservative influencer Libs of TikTok stated, “Woman claims Smoothie King in Michigan wouldn’t serve them because her husband was wearing a Trump hoodie. Any comment @SmoothieKing ??” Reacting, another comment read, “There is no hatred like the left’s hatred, they take the cake. The most hateful, discriminating, hypocritical bigots on earth.”