President Donald Trump tweeted out support for a pair of Tuscon, Arizona, restaurant owners who are under seige by social media social justice warriors after appearing behind Trump in photos from his Phoenix, Arizona, rally last week.
Jorge and Betty Rivas, who own Sammy’s Mexican Grill, were in the President’s “VIP” section in Phoenix, and were shown laughing and clapping at the President’s speech in photographs and video from the rally. Betty Rivas wore a bedazzled red cowboy hat, emblazoned with the words, “Latinos Love Trump.” Jorge sported his own Trump-branded baseball cap.
The pair, though, say they’ve been under seige by leftists since their photo was posted on a local, closed Facebook group, Grupo de Palfeis. In a video posted to their own Facebook page on on Thursday, the Rivas claim its been a relentless attack.
“Very ugly stuff. They are saying nasty stuff about the restaurant,” Jorge Rivas claimed, adding that the harassment centers largely around Trump’s immigration policies, which they say they support.
The pair, who say they are “naturalized citizens,” then defended their right to support Trump.
“Just because we are Latinos, it doesn’t mean that we have to feel like every other Latino in this country,” Jorge said in the video “We are individuals and we feel that we have the constitutional right to meet and support whoever we want.”
As “naturalized United States citizens we have the right to support President Trump or to support any other candidate that loves this country,” the pair concluded.
“This is the second time that the couple and their restaurant at 16502 N. Oracle Road have been the target of Tucsonans opposed to Trump largely because of his immigration policies,” Tuscon.com reported late last week. “In 2016, the couple was on the receiving end of nasty phone calls and minor vandalism to their far northwest valley restaurant after Betty Rivas was invited on stage with Trump during his March 2016 campaign rally at Tucson Arena.”
Luckily, this time, no one has vandalized their restaurant, though they’ve had a few “nasty phone calls.”
On Sunday, President Donald Trump himself reached out, posting about Sammy’s on social media (though he identified the restaurant as being in Phoenix, not Tuscon).
“The food is GREAT at Sammy’s Mexican Grill in Phoenix, Arizona,” the president Tweeted. “Congratulations to Betty & Jorge Rivas on doing such a wonderful job. I will try hard to stop by the next time I am in Phoenix. Support Sammy’s!”
The food is GREAT at Sammy’s Mexican Grill in Phoenix, Arizona. Congratulations to Betty & Jorge Rivas on doing such a wonderful job. I will try hard to stop by the next time I am in Phoenix. Support Sammy’s! @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2020
“People know us quite well in this area. I feel more than anything they know who we are. We are not mean, bad or racist people, Rivas told Tuscon.com. “They know what they see posted online is a bunch of crap.”
The detractors “are just wasting their time. They are not going to achieve their goal of running us out of business.”
Sammy’s Mexican Grill certainly isn’t the first establishment to run afoul of toleran leftists for its connection to the president. No less than Olive Garden was the subject of a boycott late last year, after a rumor circulated on social media that the restaurant’s parent company, Darden, was a major donor to Trump’s re-election campaign. Trump Administration officials have been confronted in and run out of restaurants in Washington, D.C., and at least one barbecue restaurant in Texas found itself in trouble for supporting Trump.