Hawaiian restaurant Café 8 1/2 is facing backlash after its owner hung a sign barring pro-Trump supporters from eating there.
“I made my one big statement, I guess you could say, with a little poster I put in my window the day after he was elected,” Robert Warner told KITV-TV about the sign he posted on the door of his restaurant.
“If you voted for Trump you can not eat here! No Nazis,” Warner’s sign to Trump supporters read.
Since hanging the sign, Café 8 1/2’s Facebook page has been inundated with one-star reviews.
“I voted for Trump and will do it again in 4 years, no skin off my nose as my next trip to Honolulu Hawaii will not have me stopping in to eat at your place, sad hate to see people loose there lively hood but you get what is coming to you,” one person wrote on the restaurant’s Facebook page. “By the way good luck with your going out of business.”
News of his hanging the controversial sign had some asking the legality of Warner’s protest.
Hawaii Civil Rights Commission director William Hoshijo said Warner’s discrimination against Trump supporters is against the law.
“Our state law does not protect against discrimination based on political affiliation,” said Hoshijo.
In the weeks since the election, Warner has taken down his divisive sign and now says he’s willing to serve supporters of President-elect Donald Trump.
“I think it’s good to be tolerant, when it’s something tolerable. Like if somebody did come here and said, you know I voted for Trump and I don’t like the sign. I’d say okay I understand that,” Warner said. “But if they were nice to me and they wanted to eat, I’d say you know I’m gonna make you some good food if you wanna stick around.”
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson
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