SAN MATEO, Calif. — UPDATE: The California restaurant owner who stirred controversy this week when he posted on Twitter that he would not serve customers wearing "Make America Great Again" hats has reversed course and is committed to serving everyone, The Associated Press reported Friday.
Read the original report below.
A California chef and restaurant partner said he won’t be serving customers who arrive at Wusrsthall in San Mateo wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.
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"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," J. Kenji Lopez-Alt said in a Sunday tweet, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The tweet has since been deleted, The Associated Press reported.
Before the tweet was removed, Lopez-Alt, an award-winning cookbook author, responded to some criticizing his decision.
"I didn't say maga hats are racist," he said in one reply. "I didn't even say the people wearing them are racist. I said MAGA hats represent support of a racist and racist ideas. Wearing one doesn't necessarily make you racist but it sure associates you with them."
I didn’t say maga hats are racist. I didn’t even say the people wearing them are racist. I said MAGA hats represent support of a racist and racist ideas. Wearing one doesn’t necessarily make you racist but it sure associates you with them.
— J. Kenji “The Chosen Fun” López-Alt (@kenjilopezalt) January 28, 2019
Some criticisms included that the ban would be discriminatory against those who support Trump and his politics, as well as concerns that the ban would drive away customers.
Lopez-Alt declined to comment further to the San Francisco Chronicle, saying that the restaurant has gotten negative and threatening emails following his Sunday tweet.
Cox Media Group
