An Ohio restaurant is dealing with an unexpected helping of controversy after agreeing to host Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy during his campaign — and some longtime customers aren’t planning to come back.
Patty and Jon Stahl, the Republican couple who own P.J. Marley’s in Medina, say the October 31 campaign appearance had been arranged before Ramaswamy’s campaign released its controversial attack ad against Democratic opponent Amy Acton, The New York Times reports. The ad featured Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, who had sided with her late husband after he sexually abused Acton as a child. Arthur called her own daughter a liar in the campaign spot, prompting criticism from both sides of the political aisle.
The Stahls say they thought the ad was in poor taste, but still wanted to hear what Ramaswamy had to say about his promises to lower property taxes and address rising electricity costs. They also insisted that hosting a political candidate wasn’t an endorsement, saying they would have welcomed a Democratic candidate as well.
Apparently, that distinction didn’t matter much to some customers. The backlash was swift after Ramawhatever used Acton’s childhood trauma for political points.
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