Famous Food Network chef Andrew Gruel recently sounded off on Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon for his progressive “soft on crime” policies, which conservatives have criticized for promoting criminality in the Golden State. Gruel vowed never to open another restaurant in California until its elected leaders restore order in the once-idyllic state.
In recent years, California’s most prominent cities, many of which are governed by some of the most progressive left-wing politicians in the country, have garnered a reputation of lawless dysfunction plagued with rampant crime. Headlines about urban areas such as Los Angeles and San Francisco paint them as an atmosphere of large-scale homeless encampments, smash-and-grabs, and overall undeterred criminal activity.
Gruel’s stark criticism of DA Gascon comes after the progressive official reportedly allowed three men who allegedly killed an elderly tourist back on the street. As a result, the “Food Truck Face Off” star took to social media, asserting that the only logical conclusion to Gascon’s agenda is that it is an “intentional” attempt to degrade society.
“At this point, it’s criminal on behalf of the DA and officials who advocate for this soft-on-crime insanity. There is no nuance to this; it’s intentional. How many thousands of cases do we need to see to know it leads to more violence? Everyone, left, right, and center, can see this. The goal is to instill fear and destroy communities,” Gruel wrote on X.
The chef doubled down on his criticism of Gascon’s soft-on-crime policies in a prior tweet, “From the next tweet: The LA Times reports one of the suspects has a lengthy criminal history in LA County. He should have been locked up for prior felonies, but he did no prison time in yet another soft-on-crime prosecution under LA DA George Gascon.”
Subsequently, Gruel told Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.” that moving forward, he would only be franchising locations of his restaurant chain Rubio’s Coastal Grill in other states. However, he maintained that he would not close existing locations in California. “I will not open another business in California until they actually fix things on a go-forward basis,” Gruel said during a recent appearance on the show.
Gruel further called out the impact of rampant crime, leading to societal deterioration that is detrimental to the business environment. “Allowing all of these crimes has really ripped apart the social fabric that we know of as the foundation of businesses. And then businesses have had to suffer because of all the crime in their surrounding communities. Business goes down. The regulations have piled up,” he added.
The restaurant entrepreneur highlighted the impact of California’s regulatory environment, another hindrance to enterprise on top of the unchecked crime. Like many blue states, California has pursued substantial increases in minimum wage laws that are driving up costs for businesses. “If they were paying their workers $17 an hour, and now they’re up to $20. At 30 workers a week, 40 hours a week, that’s only $1,200 extra dollars times three, $3,600. Well, the payroll taxes on that alone will make it at least $5,000 to $6,000 a week. 52 weeks over. That’s $300,000 a year,” Gruel stated.
Watch footage of Gavin Newsom blaming “Conservatives And Delusional California Bashers” For State’s Obvious Decline” below:
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