RI Restaurant Says Response "Getting Out of Hand" Regarding Trump Sign - They Say Is Not Theirs

RI Restaurant Says Response "Getting Out of Hand" Regarding Trump Sign - They Say Is Not Theirs

A restaurant in Rhode Island said that a sign located below theirs -- that supports Donald Trump -- has proceeded to drive a reaction that they say is "getting out of hand."

The Cook and Dagger in Greenville, Rhode Island posted a statement to social media Sunday morning, saying a Trump sign belonging to an adjoining business has resulted in a "scary" response from some customers and non-customers.

It is just another example of the political division playing out in small towns across the country relating to politics and mask-wearing.

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In this situation, the restaurant coming under fire seems to be the innocent victim of their sign being near another sign.

Restaurant's Post

Cook and Dagger posted the following statement to social media:

"This is quickly getting out of hand, if you have a moment and are interested, please listen.

The sign on top is ours. The sign on the bottom IS NOT ours. It belongs to the business that has moved in next to us.

Chris and I respect that everyone has their own political views. We, as a business are neutral and will remain so.

What IS SCARY is that we have had people say "they" and "their family" will not be returning to dine with us because of this sign. A sign that we as Cook & Dagger have no affiliation with.

The past few months have been difficult, not just for us but many small businesses. Mentally draining, worrisome, uncertain.

We are extremely grateful to have had enough support to remain open through the pandemic.

THANK YOU to our regulars AND new guests that have tried us for the first time. We appreciate all of you, very much.

We respect free speech.

However, it now looks as though Cook & Dagger has chosen a political side. Something we would never do.

We received countless messages yesterday. Some supportive. Some nasty.

Y'all!!! We just want to keep whipping up delicious food and drink...that's all we are trying to do here. Please spread the word!

Questions? Comments? Email is probably the best way now: [email protected]

Thanks for listening."

"It went up two days ago," co-owner Taylor Krickl told GoLocal. "Don't know the owner...but we are trying to get in touch with our landlord about it."

Co-owner Christopher Kattawar told GoLocal the following on Sunday. 

"I’ve met the owner of the store on Friday afternoon. I haven’t asked them to take it down yet. This all happened relatively quickly. We were not contacted by the owner or our landlord about placing the sign below ours.

As far as moving it elsewhere .... there’s not really any other spot. The face of their store has two other signs that are equally as large on it. I’m trying to have a meeting with our landlord on Tuesday. Hopefully we can rectify the situation. Personally I don’t care who you want to vote for. We just don’t think that a business should be affiliated with any political party, especially restaurants. It’s hard enough for us to make a buck right now or at any given time to be honest."

This story was first published 7/19/20 11:08 AM