On Wednesday morning, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives (normally a very grown-up organization) held a temper tantrum about gun control. Their brave “civil-rights-style” “sit-in” lasted until Thursday evening, when it became clear that their childish tactics were ineffective. But perhaps more interesting is where these champions of liberal progressivism turned to sustain them during their fight against the injustice of American gun ownership.
Those Democrats turned to Chick-fil-A, the very same fast food restaurant that New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged New Yorkers to boycott last month. De Blasio called the restaurant “anti-gay” in part because President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Dan Cathy made comments critical of gay marriage in 2012, and gave money to conservative organizations such as Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council.
TMZ caught these Democrats carrying Chick-fil-A’s “bigoted” chicken into the U.S. Capitol. Watch the footage on the next page.
Apparently, even House Democrats value tasty fried chicken over the protestations of de Blasio, along with liberal groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center and LGBT groups like Campus Pride. While the social media hashtag #ChickFilhAte exists to promote the idea that the restaurant chain supports homophobia, it was absent from the #holdthefloor sit-in.
Chick-fil-A’s “anti-gay bigotry” was powerfully disproven on the day of Omar Mateen’s senseless shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Despite the fact that the shooting took place at a gay bar, the local Chick-fil-A broke with company policy by firing up the grill on a Sunday, and giving hundreds of fried chicken sandwiches and gallons of sweet tea away — for free — to people who gave blood in solidarity after the shooting.
Next Page: But have liberal attacks like de Blasio’s boycott hurt Chick-fil-A’s bottom line?
Despite controversy — first flaring up in 2012 — the restaurant has continued to succeed in business. After pro-LGBT groups attacked Chick-fil-A four years ago, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee called for a Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day on August 1. On that day, average restaurant sales increased by 29.9 percent and each location had an average of 367 more customers than usual.
Even though NYC Mayor Bill deBlasio called for his boycott of the chain, the NYC locations reported good business the week after his statement.
Perhaps even House Democrats have finally realized that Chick-fil-A is about providing good food, not hating gay people. Then again, these are the same Democrats who chanted “shame, shame, shame” when an LGBT non-discrimination measure failed to block religious freedom protections in a military spending bill last month. Amnesia?
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