A North Carolina hot dog vendor says Tractor Supply banned his business from operating on any of the retailer’s properties after management discovered that he supports President Donald Trump. The owner of All American Hot Dogs and Catering said he received the news after setting up his cart outside a Tractor Supply location in Spring Lake. His account quickly sparked calls from conservatives to boycott the retailer and spend their money elsewhere.
The vendor described the ban in a video recorded after management informed him that his business would no longer be permitted at Tractor Supply locations. According to his account, the decision did not come from the manager of the Spring Lake store but from a regional manager whom he identified as Stephanie Carosso. He said the stated reason involved political material found on his personal Facebook page.
“I just, as you guys know, I’ve started a hot dog business, hot dog cart called All American Hot Dogs and Catering,” the vendor began. “Well, we set up today at the Tractor Supply in Spring Lake, and I was just notified by management out there that we are barred from all Tractor Supplies, that it came down from the regional manager.”
The video was shared in a post on X, where the allegation prompted immediate criticism of the retail chain. The vendor said management told him that he could no longer sell food on any Tractor Supply property because of his support for Trump. “Basically, it came down, and they told us that we’re no longer allowed on any Tractor Supply properties to sell our hot dogs because we are Trump supporters,” he said.
The vendor said the company apparently based its decision on posts made through his personal Facebook account rather than anything published through the business. He also disputed the idea that politics played a significant role in how he operated the hot dog cart. “Apparently, on my Facebook page I supported Donald Trump,” he said. “Now everybody knows me, and I could care less who you voted for. I don’t care about your political beliefs.”
He continued by saying that he rarely posts political material on his personal page and does not use the All American Hot Dogs and Catering page for political advocacy. “I really don’t post a lot of political stuff on my page, and I definitely don’t post anything on the All American Hot Dogs and Catering,” he said. He maintained that the banning was unfair because it punished his business for views expressed separately by the owner’s private page.
Watch the vendor describe what happened here:
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The business owner also described the relationship he had developed with customers and employees at the Tractor Supply locations where he operated. He said customers enjoyed the service and that he routinely provided complimentary meals to store workers and managers. “It’s kind of disappointing because we have a lot of customers, and they really have enjoyed our service,” he said. “We take care of the employees. We make sure that they eat for free. We make sure that the local managers eat for free.”
The allegation drew calls for a boycott from Trump supporters who argued that the company should not receive the business of the same customers whose political views were allegedly used against the vendor. “MAGA will be doing business elsewhere now,” one user wrote in response to the controversy. Others called on Tractor Supply’s corporate leadership to investigate the decision and reverse any prohibition imposed because of the vendor’s personal political views.
The vendor said local management attributed the decision to the regional manager, though his account remains the main source of the allegation. He concluded by expressing disbelief that supporting the sitting president could allegedly prevent a small business from operating outside the stores where it had already built a customer base.
“I never thought that it would come to something like this because you support the president of the United States of America, that you’re no longer allowed to sell your hot dogs or anything that you have on their property,” he said.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.