I wanted to update you on some of the furor over JD Vance initially being denied entry into Primanti Brothers restaurant in North Versailles, PA.
As we noted, multiple videos went viral on Saturday of people posting saying Vance had been denied entry.
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His supporters had been there already in the restaurant and had ordered food. They then canceled their orders and left to meet and greet with Vance in the parking lot.
Primanti basically admits Vance was denied entry initially but blames it on a mistake by their people onsite. They posted this on X but shut off comments in reply. Then they said he was welcomed into the restaurant after the initial denial.
— Primanti Bros (@primantibros) September 28, 2024
Republican Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco disputes this account. He also appeared to dispute that the visit was “without notice.”
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.” Perhaps Primanti’s isn’t being… https://t.co/CcsRRoiGbm
— Sam DeMarco 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@sdemarcoii) September 29, 2024
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.” Perhaps Primanti’s 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. I wouldn’t otherwise comment further on this but the false statement requires correcting it. I was told staff had contacted the restaurant prior and as a matter of fact, a sandwich was ordered for the Senator which was sitting at a seat for him just prior to the motorcades arrival.
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They already had all the supporters inside, so it wasn’t like Vance was entering with all the supporters, even if it had been a “surprise” — which DeMarco disputes.
While the restaurant thinks they settled it because Vance was gracious, they should apologize and invite him back publicly.
Meanwhile the Kamala HQ account posted about the visit of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to Primanti’s Moon Township location in August, trying to troll Vance and be divisive. But as usual, they didn’t have the sense to realize what they were doing wasn’t a good idea.
Nothing beats a stop at Primanti Bros https://t.co/OvpcYLIO69 pic.twitter.com/lfYzVzgF6Y
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 29, 2024
They were so intent on trolling Vance, they didn’t get that they were suggesting that it was in fact political and throwing the restaurant under the bus. Plus, it was silly because it also brought back up the real story from that visit in August.
This just makes Primanti Bros look bad. https://t.co/GdIwLkWdcq
— RBe (@RBPundit) September 29, 2024
It doesn’t make Kamala look good, it makes her look petty and mean girl-ish.
The Trump War Room rapid response account was right there to blow their game.
You mean the one where you kicked everyone out and replaced them with your own supporters because everything about your campaign is fake https://t.co/pifzF8nUmX pic.twitter.com/R0LMqG6H6r
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 29, 2024
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These weren’t regular diners. As we reported back then, the real regular diners were upset when they said they were made to leave just before Kamala Harris, Tim Walz and their whole entourage descended upon the restaurant.
What the video above and the news reports didn’t say was that the people besides campaign staff, press and restaurant workers were invited guests/Kamala supporters and volunteers.
The media showed pictures of Harris smiling and greeting people, with them being very receptive to her as you can see above. The media described the people variously as “diners,” “voters,” or “customers.”
What they didn’t say was that they were invited supporters.