Philly Restaurant Bans GOP Candidate After Being Told Campaign Stop Was Autism Event
www.thedailybeast.com
After GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick held a campaign event at a restaurant that was told it was an autism awareness event, his campaign was booted from a church fundraiser.

“You’re not welcome back.”

That’s the message the manager of Philadelphia cheesesteak joint Max’s Steaks had for Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick, after his campaign held an event outside the restaurant Friday that the eatery was told would be about autism awareness.

Mike Sfida—who agreed to hold the event because his niece and nephew have autism—was alarmed when he saw Donald Trump signs being hung outside the beloved North Philly spot on Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. McCormick arrived, gave a campaign stump address, and then handed out free sandwiches.

…

But the disaster didn’t end there.

After showing up at a cheesesteak restaurant to campaign under the auspice of an autism awareness event, McCormick went across the street to East Bethel Baptist Church, which happened to be holding an outdoor fundraiser for its food ministry.

The Rev. Thomas Edwards Jr., who leads the church, told his campaign to leave because he didn’t want the GOP candidate to use photos of his congregation for campaigning purposes.

“You can Photoshop,” he told the Inquirer. “You can make things seem like they aren’t. Maybe they’re going to post we’re eating dogs or eating cats, like in Ohio. Forgive me if I’m wrong. I don’t trust these people.”

  • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
    423·
    2 months ago

    Can someone explain to me what happened here? I read the story and I’m so confused.

    Why is a guy with two autistic children upset about an autism awareness event? Why did he give them free sandwiches and simultaneously tell them to fuck off?

    • Thalion@lemmy.ca
      26·
      2 months ago

      It wasn’t an Autism awareness event, it was a campaign rally. They lied to the owner to be able to use the space. The store owner didn’t give out sandwiches, the candidate did. The store owner also didn’t ask them to leave, the pastor across the road did. This was all very clear from the words written.

      • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
        223·
        2 months ago

        Where did you read that it wasn’t an autism awareness event? I literally can not find that.

        Edit: it literally says they spoke about autism at the event

        Pressed by the newspaper about whether the campaign stop was an autism awareness event, Armstrong claimed “it’s always autism awareness because I’m an education advocate” and said she spoke to those gathered about autism at one point.

        …but sounds like they were hurried because the dude told them to fuck off

        Do your thing. When you’re done, leave. You’re not welcome back.

        • _stranger_@lemmy.world
          17·
          2 months ago

          Republican: Can I show up to your business to host a [thing you care about deeply] event?

          Shows up, whole thing is about [ thing you fucking hate ]. Mentions your thing in passing.

        • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
          41·
          2 months ago

          I literally

          This is where your argument fell apart. If it wasn’t literally, how else were you going to find the part where the candidate lied about everything? You didn’t mention using your eyes and reading comprehension, and I worry one of those wasn’t in use.

          Also, there are a million better adverbs, and learning them is fun.

        • jeeva@lemmy.world
          1·
          2 months ago

          I read that as “Armstrong claimed [every event they speak at is about] autism awareness because [they are] an education advocate”. Personally, I can’t see how that makes a lick of sense.

          They also claim they spoke about autism “at one point”, but to be real, this appears to have been them lying about what it was to get the space and then it being a campaign event.

          Do “autism awareness” events need Trump signs?

          It’s also worth noting that you seem to have read the (rubbish, LLM based?) summary and not the article, which lays this all out more clearly:

          Sfida told the Inquirer it was a local Republican operative, Sheila Armstrong, who contacted him to schedule the event, which she did on behalf of her nonprofit organization, Cooking4Autism, without mentioning McCormick’s campaign.

          Armstrong is a member of the anti-LGBT group Moms for Liberty, which campaigns against school curricula that discusses LGBT rights or race and which the civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center has classified as a far-right extremist group.

          She was a paid staffer for the failed campaign of Republican Mehmet Oz — who lost to U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) in 2022— but appears to have no official affiliation role on McCormick’s team, the Inquirer reported. She told the newspaper she offered to be a liaison for the GOP candidate in Philadelphia.

          Pressed by the newspaper about whether the campaign stop was an autism awareness event, Armstrong claimed “it’s always autism awareness because I’m an education advocate” and said she spoke to those gathered about autism at one point.

    • brewdtype@lemmy.world
      21·
      2 months ago

      The owner was asked if an autism-awareness event could be held at his business. He accepted, in part because he has family members with autism. After the event has gotten rolling, he realizes it’s actually a campaign event for the GOP and tells the guy to fuck off.

      Seems like they either deliberately went out of their way to hide what the event really was, or the business owner didn’t really bother to look up who was holding the event and put two-and-two together.

      • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
        121·
        2 months ago

        Isn’t it a good thing for a campaign event to host an autism awareness event tho, regardless of which side he’s on?

        Especially as someone with autistic children, it seems like that would be something he’d want to support…

        • _stranger_@lemmy.world
          28·
          2 months ago

          THERE WAS NO AUTISM EVENT.

          THE REPUBLICAN LIED BECAUSE HE KNEW THE RESTAURANT OWNER WOULD NEVER AGREE TO A CAMPAIGN EVENT.

          THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE EMOTIONALLY MANIPULATED THE RESTAURANT OWNER, TRICKING THE OWNER INTO HOSTING A CAMPAIGN EVENT.

          • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
            15·
            2 months ago

            I don’t know where you read that. If that were true, why wouldn’t the author clearly state that there was no autism event?

            Can you quote where the article says there was no autism event?

            • Chip_Rat@lemmy.world
              4·
              2 months ago

              “Pressed by the newspaper about whether the campaign stop was an autism awareness event, Armstrong claimed “it’s always autism awareness because I’m an education advocate” and said she spoke to those gathered about autism at one point.” -the article.

              So there you have it. It WAS an autism event, because an “education advocate” said so.

              You are a rube or a troll, and my time has been wasted. Congrats.

                • _stranger_@lemmy.world
                  1·
                  2 months ago

                  Lol, the article is quoting a Republican’s lies. If the article had quoted someone saying “Bigfoot is real”, does that mean the article said bigfoot is real?

                  • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
                    11·
                    2 months ago

                    No, but I would expect the author to state clearly if we have data showing that Bigfoot is real or not, and on who the burden of proof lies