J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, the award-winning chef, cookbook author, and owner of a couple of restaurants south of San Francisco, claimed on social media over the weekend that the hats sold by President Trump's campaign were linked with racial animus.
"It hasn't happened yet, but if you come to my restaurant wearing a MAGA cap, you aren't getting served, same as if you come in wearing a swastika, white hood, or any other symbol of intolerance and hate," Lopez-Alt wrote in a now-deleted string of Twitter posts, multiple outlets reported. "MAGA hats are like white hoods except stupider because you can see exactly who is wearing them."
Lopez-Alt declined to comment to the San Francisco Chronicle late Wednesday, citing safety concerns, but did acknowledge his businesses had been sent threatening emails over his tweets.
Lopez-Alt is not the first restaurateur to decline to serve Trump supporters. Last year White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was asked to leave the Red Hen in Lexington, Va., because of her role within the president's administration.
"MAGA" caps have been in the spotlight in recent weeks after the viral encounter between Native American elder Nathan Phillips and Covington High School student Nick Sandmann, who was donning one of the hats. Initial reports based on a short video clip suggested Sandmann was being disrespectful toward Phillips, but longer videos of the encounter, showing Philips approaching Sandmann and fellow students, caused some who cast judgment to walk back their criticism.
Comment: Trump Derangement Syndrome strikes again.