The Harris campaign trolled JD Vance after he was reportedly turned away from a restaurant that had previously welcomed Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
Republican VP candidate JD Vance intended to stop at iconic Pittsburgh restaurant Primanti Bros on Saturday, but when his campaign arrived they were told no cameras and the restaurant didn’t want to be part of a “campaign event,” so Vance ended up shaking hands in the parking lot.
“JD Vance intended to make a stop at a Primanti Bros near Pittsburgh… but when they got there, the campaign was told no cams & restaurant didn’t want to be part of a “campaign event”
Vance ended up shaking hands outside in parking lot.
He has event in Monroeville, PA this aftn,” NBC reporter Doug Adams shared on X.
Shaking hands in the parking lot is giving Rudy Giuliani at Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference energy, which is perhaps fitting for a Republican ticket with Donald Trump at the top.
But this is made more awkward by the fact that Primanti Bros hosted Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, a visit over which the Harris campaign cheerfully trolled the Republican ticket by posting it above the reporter’s tweet.
The joy happened in Moon Township on August 18, 2024, during the Harris-Walz bus tour of Pennsylvania:
Nothing beats a stop at Primanti Bros https://t.co/OvpcYLIO69 pic.twitter.com/lfYzVzgF6Y
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 29, 2024
Lest anyone think that Vance was turned away from the restaurant out of spite, CEO Adam Golomb said without advance notice, the staff was confused initially, but that Vance and his team were welcomed into the restaurant and engaged with guests inside and on the property.
Their full statement:
“Primanti’s prides itself on being a staple of the Pittsburgh community and a proud American business that has hosted sitting presidents, politicians, and political candidates from across the spectrum for over 90 years. Our doors are open to all patrons who wish to dine with us. Without any advance notice, today’s campaign stop caused some momentary confusion for our staff. However, Senator Vance and his team were welcomed into our restaurant shortly after and engaged with our guests inside and on the property. Senator Vance’s supportive comments that our manager got a little nervous given the secret service, police and crowd accurately reflect the nature of what occurred, but we are glad that it was resolved quickly.”
However, Allegheny County Republican Party Chair Sam DeMarco said Vance’s visit was spontaneous, but reportedly said “a manager wouldn’t let Vance go inside initially and even threatened to call police.”
“Senator Vance was absolutely turned away today,” DeMarco said.
The manager of the restaurant, a woman, reportedly would not allow Vance out of his car even though reportedly the restaurant had been told two hours prior to expect the Republican Senator.
This upset Republicans who began posting on social media that Vance had not been allowed in and so his supporters who were there to meet him cancelled their orders.
.@primantibros refused to let @JDVance in to their restaurant full of customers waiting to greet him. They all paid for their drinks, cancelled their food orders and left after hearing that VP candidate was not welcome. Here was his response #Trump2024Vance #RepublicanParty #GOP pic.twitter.com/JsggvQiuhu
— Anissa Zappala (@anissa_zappala) September 28, 2024
Vance tried to be a good sport about it all, and seems to have gone inside to pay for the food and leave a nice tip. It does seem to be a some kind of misunderstanding, but the PR fail of it lands on top of Vance’s streak of weird food-related campaign stops.
The Republican’s donut shop visit was ruthlessly mocked by comedians and the general public because it was so perplexing, starting off with Vance oddly thanking the workers for letting him come in to the worker behind the counter asking not to be on film. This was followed by Vance making cumbersome small talk that sounded like someone fed the words into a robot and they were just spitting back out randomly.
Another way of looking at it is: Ron DeSantis walked so JD Vance could run.
But in this case, JD gets points for not making it into a big deal and the restaurant CEO has tried to explain it as a mishap. Still, the lingering haze of awkwardness amongst the people follows Vance like a curse, which was highlighted by Team Harris sharing their video of joy at the restaurant.
It’s true that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz just have an ease about them, and that makes campaigning a lot easier. The secret to their success, though, is that they are genuinely interested in other people. It’s really ver
