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Restaurant in Hawaii Bans Trump Voters, Faces Immediate Backlash [Updated]

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The online comments have been brutal

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Café 8 ½
Kauhi Ahana/Facebook

There’s trouble brewing in paradise: Café 8 ½, an Italian restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii decided to take a stand against Trump supporters this week while the Obama family vacationed nearby. The cafe’s owners posted a sign on their restaurant’s front door that read, “If you voted for Trump you cannot eat here! No Nazis.”

Sign in question
Yelp

Unsurprisingly, the restaurant is now facing the wrath of Trump supporters across the internet. Hundreds of Trump supporters took to Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, TripAdvisor, and even Google images to pan the restaurant, many of them giving the establishment 1-star reviews along with commentary like, “The world does not need people like YOU. Where the hell is your democrat values?” [sic] and “You will be out of business this time next year, and America will be a better place. #Trump2016.”

Owners Robert and Jali Warner told Fox News that the sign was meant to be more harmless then it was interpreted, with Jali saying, “Robert just wants to express how much he doesn’t like Trump.” She went on to add that they weren’t looking to create trouble since, “there is enough trouble in the world.”

This isn’t the first time a dining establishment has decided to publicize its politics. Earlier this year an Iowa nightclub charged Trump supporters a higher entrance fee than Hillary Clinton supporters. In March, a steakhouse owner in Louisville received death threats so extreme after banning Trump from his restaurant that he was forced to lift the ban.

Not all the backlash against Cafe 8 ½ is negative, however. Some users have chimed in on Yelp saying “their politics are spot on LOVE trumps hate” and “I love the Trump comment too and it doesn't have anything to do with Hilary Clinton,” in support of Café 8 ½. Hawaii voted Democrat in the last election, with Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton wining 62.2 percent of the vote according to the New York Times.

Update: December 29, 5:30 p.m. The sign has now been removed, reports the Associated Press. “It’s not necessary anymore,” Robert Warner told the AP. “It ran its course. No need for more aggravation for me or them and all that. No problem, no big deal to me.”

'You cannot eat here': Hawaii café riles residents with ban on Trump voters [Fox]
All Donald Trump Coverage [E]


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