Donald Trump is great at playing the victim. His Look-Mom-They’re-Being-Mean-To-Me tactic is disgusting to watch. Take the Attorney General William Barr’s interpretation of the Mueller report. Almost immediately, POTUS started listing off all the people he says have been bad to him. The commander-in-chief must have been a joy to raise as a child. The manipulation is not only unattractive, but unfortunately, it is contagious. A Florida man just proved that.
A Sarasota, Florida man wearing a Make America Great Again (MAGA) cap and his girlfriend walked into the Bahi Hut bar. After they sat down, Mark Marlow said a bar employee approached him and told he would not be served and should leave. Marlow told The Herald Tribune:
‘I was not drunk, I was not loud, I was not using profane language, I was not creating a scene — nothing. They said it was just because of the hat. I just shook my head. He kind of turned around and walked away.
Then, Marlow reported what the bar employee said to him next:
‘”I can see you’re not going to go peacefully; if you don’t leave I’m going to call the cops.” I told him to go ahead and do that.’
The customer called his state Senator Joe Gruters, who is also the leader of the local and state GOP and complained. Gruters responded on Facebook:
‘Local Sarasota resident, Mark Marlow, was denied service from the Bahi Hut on Friday night and was asked to leave as a result of his MAGA hat. As a community, we should reject these type of actions, as it will lead to more division and hostility on both sides. We live in the greatest Country that has ever existed and this behavior should be considered unacceptable.’
Then, Marlow responded to a question about Trump, who has had a racist history. Did the president contribute to the confrontational climate with his lack of respect. Marlow admitted that POTUS was very “intolerant on some issues,” but that did not impact the way the bar employee treated him:
‘I feel like I have a right to wear that hat in public just as much as somebody can wear gay pride or Dreamer Act shirts or things I might not necessarily wholeheartedly endorse. Society as a whole should be able to peacefully disagree and no one should feel threatened.’
Bar owner Jim Beck said his bar will not allow any sort of discrimination. He said:
‘The management and owner strongly believes in nondiscrimination. MAGA hat is as welcome as anybody else in the bar. If somebody takes an exception to it, please leave.’
Beck continued with his dilemma:
‘“I don’t know what to believe at this point. Right in the foyer as you enter the bar it says no hats. He’s saying what he told the gentleman very politely, very nicely, was no hats.’
When a reporter asked if Beck supported the no-hats policy, he responded:
‘I support no discrimination … we’re trying to run a business; it’s supposed to be for everyone. I don’t know what to make of it, what to do. The policy’s written right there. It’s engraved in wood paneling. I can’t beat them up for following the policy.’
Marlow responded:
‘Given the fact that 50 percent of the population does not support Trump I imagine there was somebody in the bar that found offense with my hat, but that doesn’t excuse the behavior.’
As for the bar having a no-hats policy, Marlow said another person in the bar was wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers hat, and they even jokingly swapped hats at one point. That meant that the MAGA man did not accept the policy:
‘There were other people in the bar wearing hats. If they had told me there was a policy against hats I would have followed the rules. That option was never given to me. It was we will not serve you; you need to leave.’
Beck called Marlow afterward and apologized. The MAGA hat wearer said:
‘(He was) very, very nice to me. I feel bad for the owner, I think he was put in a bad light by his employee.’
