California cancel culture crusaders censured a restaurant owner for allowing staff to post photos with a conservative personality they dislike.
A Mexican restaurant in Humboldt County, Tres Chiles Picosos, posted photos of staff alongside MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on Facebook.
Restaurant owner Michelle Hill said a waitress and a bartender recognized Lindell because they have purchased MyPillow products, according to an SFGate report. Hill added the staff of her North California restaurant were unfamiliar with Lindell’s galvanizing participation in national politics. The owner said she permitted a manager to post the photo on the restaurant’s Facebook page because staff were excited by having a quasi-celebrity like Lindell eat at their restaurant.
The Facebook post was not intended as any kind of political statement, Hill declared.
“I don’t get into politics,” she said. “We knew nothing about him apart from that he’s the MyPillow guy.”
“My staff buys his pillows, his sheets, his socks,” HIll said, adding, “they were just excited to see someone famous.”
Lindell is being sued and investigated for his claims that electronic voting machines helped Democrats steal a 2020 general election from former President Donald Trump. The MyPillow CEO is a vocal supporter of the former president and his policies, which have made him persona non grata to liberals and progressives.
“It’s not about the politics, it’s about the crimes and sedition,” one Facebook user commented. “You don’t post photos with other tourists, why start with him.”
Backlash from social media users prompted her to research Lindell online, and she said that even if she had known about Lindell’s election fraud claims, she still would have allowed her manager to post the photo, according to the SFGate report. Lindell is famous, she reportedly said, and she would post a photo of her staff with any celebrity who visited the restaurant, regardless of their ideological leanings.
“This was the first person that had come into the restaurant that they had seen on TV,” Hill said. “They probably would’ve taken a photo with Biden, or Trump, or Martha Stewart or George Clooney if they had come in.”
Hill said she stands by her staff and has no plans to remove the photo despite a chorus of calls telling her to delete it.
“I’m not going to be bullied,” she said.
After an outpouring of criticism from people who indicated they had never eaten at the restaurant, staff added an update about Lindell’s visit. They lamented the hateful comments directed at them and described how Lindell and his family treated the restaurant’s Hispanic staff respectfully and were very nice people.
Tres Chiles Picosos welcomes all tourists who help support the devastated economy of northern California as it struggles to recover from pandemic lockdowns.
“All are welcome in our restaurant. We support all forms of life,” the restaurant’s Facebook page noted. “There should be more love and joy in the world than hate and negativity that was mentioned in this post.”
“Everyone is welcome at Tres Chiles Picosos and we love all of our patrons.”