If you are looking to stay at a Hilton/Hampton Inn Hotel in Lakeview, Minnesota, you will not find one on the official Hilton website.
Last week, the website would have directed you to Hilton’s Lakeview Hampton Inn. This independently-owned hotel was part of the Hilton family and enjoyed all the benefits that come with the Hilton brand.
That all changed when the Lakeview Hampton canceled reservations made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and then informed them that anyone associated with the DHS is not welcome there.
The online shitstorm that followed resulted in the Hilton Mothership assuring everyone this was not acceptable. Then we were told the Lakeview Hampton had seen the light and reversed this outrageous policy. Ah, but then a citizen journalist named Nick Sortor did what the corporate media would never do — follow up on the story — and he discovered that the Lakeview Hampton Inn had not changed its policy — that it had lied to the public and to the Mothership about changing its policy.
Wisely, once informed of this, Hilton Corporate remembered the lessons of Bud Light, Cracker Barrel, and Jaguar, so there was fast corporate action to send a message that this kind of behavior is not acceptable in the Hilton family.
Already, the Lakeview Hampton Inn has been delisted from the official Hilton website, and there are unverified photos out there that show that Hilton has already removed the Lakeview location’s signage.
This is a long-overdue shift in our culture. Whereas the political left once held a monopoly on the power to influence corporations, Hilton’s rapid action shows that the political right finally shares some of that power. Had the corporate office not acted, the amount of pain that was about to befall the Hilton brand would’ve been crippling. My guess is that the White House was equally willing to act against this outrage. Instead, by acting appropriately, Hilton has improved its standing with more than half of the country. Most telling is this…
Hilton does not, at least so far, appear to be paying any kind of price from the political left. I expected the left to organize, protest the corporate office, and call for Hilton boycotts. Could it be that Trump’s dismantling of US AID, a government-run front group that funded the left’s ongoing insurrection, is making it more difficult for the left to mobilize everywhere, as they seemed capable of doing before?
I’d sure like to think so.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.