Pittsburgh Restaurant Claims 'Momentary Confusion' After Denying JD Vance Entry, Threatening With Arrest

Pennsylvania is a major battleground state in the 2024 presidential election, but many Americans may not be aware of how tenuous the situation is for Democrats. Stats show that since 2016 the state has seen an exponential increase in conservative and independent voters and a steady decline in Democratic support. The majority of presidential polls show a dead-heat between Trump and Harris, and if we take into account the fact that most polls have been weighted in Kamala's favor with extra Democrats surveyed, it's not looking good for her.

When an election is so ideologically contested and the popular divide is so brutal, malicious behavior from one side or the other is likely.  It just so happens that all the malicious behavior during this campaign has been on the left side of the political spectrum (including two attempted assassinations against Donald Trump by Act Blue donators). This is not the America of decades past in which people were opposed based on policy and when the election was over they moved on - This time people are opposed based on core morality and there is no moving on.

Another example of this dynamic is a recent controversy involving Trump's running mate JD Vance - who made an impromptu stop at a popular Pittsburgh restaurant chain called Primanti Bros.  Washington County GOP chair Sean Logue was one of what he said was about 100 Trump supporters inside the restaurant who had been tipped off that Vance would make a stop there. They arrived an hour early. 

"The manager told patrons, other Republicans, that Vance is not allowed to make a campaign stop at Primanti Brothers," Logue said. "And then when there was pushback to say, 'Wait a second, Kamala Harris just did this a month ago,' the response was, 'Well, if he wants to sit down and order food, we can't stop him."

When Vance did arrive ahead of an event in Monroeville, Logue said that the restaurant's manager ran out to tell him that he was not allowed inside, that he couldn't have a campaign stop there, and that if he did go inside - they'd call the police and file trespassing charges.

Vance handled the situation with class.

The Pittsburgh chain has been a favorite of politicians for years.  Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton swung by the Primanti’s in Market Square in 2016 and And GOP presidential candidate John McCain went to the one in the Strip District in 2008, chatting up customers as he waited for his order.

Primanti Bros. was already a subject of controversy after they allegedly kicked out real customers so that Kamala Harris could bus in her own crowd of supporters for a staged campaign meet and greet. 

Trump supporters have called for a boycott of the business after what they argue was unfair treatment of Vance.  Primanti Bros. has released a statement on the incident, but not an apology. 

They say the incident was due to "confusion" and that Vance was eventually invited in.  Witnesses argue that this is untrue.  Republican Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco stated:

'While Senator Vance was extremely gracious today about being denied entry to Primanti’s today, this statement is NOT accurate...Senator Vance was denied entry and he and his team were NOT welcomed into the restaurant after the initial "confusion." '

'Primanti’s perhaps isn’t being told the truth by their Manager who threatened to call the police if he entered. Senator Vance spoke with and took photos with patrons outside in the parking lot but there were no interactions inside other than him going in to pay for everyone’s food...'

The political leanings of the restaurant's owners or manager are not known, but judging by their pettiness one can easily guess.