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  • 2018-06-27 (xsd:date)
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  • Was Joe Biden Refused Service at 'Crumb and Get It' in 2012? (en)
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  • In June 2018, much ado was made about a Virginia restaurant called the Red Hen which refused to serve White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Conservative pundits immediately chastised the Red Hen for their decision and criticized Democrats for a general loss of a civility in their political discourse. President Trump used his official Twitter account to attack the restaurant, and certain circles of the Internet immediately attempted to tie the Red Hen and its owner to those circles' favorite topics, pedophilia and Satanism. As the controversy churned, some brought up a Democratic politician's purportedly similar experience in 2012: There is some truth to this claim, although it is hardly a direct parallel to the incident involving Sanders and the Red Hen. The biggest difference is that Sanders was attending the Red Hen to have dinner with her family, while Joe Biden's visit to Crumb and Get It was related to the his campaigning activities around Virginia. The story was widely reported by local outlets at the time, such as this 15 August 2012 story published by the Roanoke Times: WDBJ reported that McMurray's decision to turn Biden away came a few days after President Barack Obama made a statement that rankled some small business owners. (That statement was, If you've got a business — you didn't build that during a speech; however, many later argued that his line was taken out of context.) WDBJ also provided a rundown of the interaction. Unlike the situation with Sanders and the Red Hen, Biden was never actually inside the store; Biden's people came to the store in the morning to ask McMurray permission for the the Vice President to make a campaign stop at Crumb and Get It, but McMurray declined. Shortly after that Biden's Secret Service detail arrived, thanked McMurray for standing up for his opinion, and purchased several cookies and cupcakes. McMurray said that the main reason he refused Biden service was that he didn't want to pose for a photograph with a member of the Obama administration: Outlets such as the Drudge Report picked up on the story and soon McMurray became a sort of political hero. He was touted as the new Joe the Plumber and even attended a campaign event to introduce Paul Ryan. The store and its owner were praised by the GOP and conservatives urged a buycott of the store which briefly boosted sales of Crumb and Get It's freedom cookies: We attempted to find a response from Biden or Obama about the incident. Other than the thank you delivered by Biden's secret service detail, it doesn't appear that either of the politicians commented on the incident at Crumb and Get It. (en)
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