Vance pays for a tab at a local Pennsylvania restaurant after it refused to let his campaign greet supporters there: 'No taxes on tips'
Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance was seen talking to an employee at Primanti Bros. in North Versailles, Pa., on Saturday.
Vice President Kamala Harris is fond of saying that Donald Trump is only in it for himself, not the American people. Well, this weekend we saw, in a picture-perfect example of psychological projection, Harris throwing a small business under the bus for her own supposed political gain.
On Saturday, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance tried to drop in on Pittsburgh’s famed Primanti Bros. sandwich shop, only to be barred entry. This came much to the disappointment of waiting voters, some of whom angrily recorded the events on their phones.
Ire was raised on the right, threats of boycotts abounded, and Vance had cause to be a little miffed.
But Trump's running mate graciously forgave the snub, while greeting fans in the parking lot, paying for the crowd's meals with a generous tip. The store released a statement saying he was welcome and that their employee had just been surprised by the cameras.
A supporter shakes JD Vance's hand outside the Primanti Bros. in North Versailles, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Sept. 28. (Trump-Vance Campaign)
As the Bard once pointed out, all's well that ends well, until Kamala Harris gets involved, and it's very telling.
On Sunday, Harris’ campaign posted a video on X showing Harris being welcomed as a hero in Primanti Bros. back in August. The message was as clear as it was ugly - unlike Republicans, Democrats are welcome in polite society.
Let’s set to one side the fact that Harris' appearance at the Steel City staple this summer was met by widespread mockery when it was discovered her campaign had kicked out actual diners and bused in supporters to set the fraudulent scene. That’s bad enough.
But what Harris has wrought here isn’t just the disingenuous papering of the house at a political event. She is doing real harm to Primanti Bros.' effort to walk this situation back and make clear that everyone, of every political stripe, is welcome there.
That was the point Vance was trying to make when he spoke after being denied entry, saying of the manager, "Don’t hold it against her, she just got a little nervous, but it's a great local business."
That is the classy way to handle such a thing. It is what generations of Americans have expected from our leaders.
Primanti Bros. confirmed that was what happened and that really should have been the end of it. But no, not for Kamala Harris, the ‘me’ girl, around whom all things must revolve.
It didn’t matter to Harris that the matter had been settled, that calls to boycott the restaurant were dying down, or that people were ready to move on to more serious matters.
Vice President Kamala Harris greets supporters during a campaign event at Cochise College Douglas Campus on Sept. 27, 2024, in Douglas, Arizona. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
No, the vice president of the United States had to spike the football on X over her astroturf event at the greasy spoon, even if it meant hurting the business. You see, Harris winning is more important than any individual small business.
And it was done in such an obnoxious way. Does Harris really want all of our businesses segregated by the politics of the customers? How ghastly.
It brought me back to a conversation I had with a woman in San Francisco recently. She was a lifelong resident who had followed Harris’ rise.
"She doesn’t seem to believe in much, and the word is she isn’t very nice," she told me.
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This echoes similar voices in Pennsylvania who told me they "just don’t know who she is," or, commonly, "I think she’ll say anything to get elected."
Harris keeps insisting that she is the candidate who is selflessly in the race for the sake of the American people, while Trump only cares about Trump, but when has Harris ever done anything selflessly, or not on the public dime?
When in her career has she taken a back seat for the good of the people?
She certainly isn’t doing so by extending the controversy and misery surrounding Primanti Bros., which wants nothing more than for this whole story to go away.
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The brutal fact is that the only moral compass Harris and her campaign have is set squarely on a north star of victory, not helping actual people, even if they think they might get around to that part eventually.
In the meantime, much like the bused-in participants at her event at Primanti Bros., we are all just extras in Kamala’s Excellent Adventure.
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