Trump Tweeted a Bizarre Review of the Restaurant That Kicked Out Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Donald Trump, president of these United States, noted eater of McDonald's hamburgers without the bun, tweeted out a restaurant review on Monday morning. It was part of an unorthodox approach to defending Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, but this is likely yet another first for a sitting president, in that it panned the Virginia restaurant. 

This started on Friday, when Sanders was asked to leave the Red Hen "because I work for @POTUS and I politely left," as she relayed the events on Twitter. The internet was soon in flames (as per usual) over whether this was highly inappropriate or actually super great. But the president (uncharacteristically) had yet to weigh in. 

That is, until Monday morning when he tweeted: "The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!"

As Eater points out, there's no real evidence that President Trump has dined at the Virginia restaurant. 

Stephanie Wilkinson, the owner of Red Hen, explained to the Washington Post that Sanders' expulsion was actually a group decision and came part way through the meal. “I’m not a huge fan of confrontation. I have a business, and I want the business to thrive," she said, per the paper. "This feels like the moment in our democracy when people have to make uncomfortable actions and decisions to uphold their morals." She met with her staff in the back of the restaurant and left it up to them. "Tell me what you want me to do. I can ask her to leave. They said 'yes.'"

This has led to a flood Yelp reviews from folks who have never set foot in the restaurant, mostly weighing in via all caps on whether asking Sanders to leave was admirable or a threat to democracy.

Others are simply pointing out that Trump calling out a "dirty" restaurant is ironic given that his own Mar-a-Lago has been cited for health code violations 78 times in the last three years.

h/t Eater

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James Chrisman is a News Writer at Thrillist. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @james_chrisman2.