Diners angry at Kamala Harris for kicking them out of restaurant (2024)

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A group of diners sitting down to enjoy Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's famous Primanti Bros. sandwiches were surprised and outraged Saturday after they were told by staff to leave by 4:00 pm.

It was a typical Saturday afternoon as a handful of patrons sat down for beers, food, and baseball but were soon disrupted thanks to a visit from Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Around 3:30, the bartender, she goes, ‘It’s last call’ – what do you mean last call?” patron Mark Dodson said to Fox News reporter Charles Creitz.

Staff told patrons that they would have to leave due to a ‘private event’ which turned out to be a campaign stop for Kamala Harris.

A group of supporters of former President Donald Trump gathered outside the restaurant to boo Harris and wave signs and Trump flags as the Vice President and her team arrived at the famous establishment.

‘They kicked us out of Primanti Brothers,’ one man commented as a person in the crowd filmed a caravan of over a dozen unmarked Ford Transit vans arrived to the location.

‘Look at all the paid actors!,’ other people in the pro-Trump crowd shouted. ‘All these actors in these vans!’

‘For Kamala Harris’s visit to Primanti’s this afternoon they kicked out all the customers at 4pm so they could bring in their own audience,’ Republican Committee of Allegheny County chairman Sam DeMarco III wrote on social media, sharing video of the crowd.

‘Look at all the white vans,’ he added. ‘Keep that in mind as you see video of them interacting inside.’

Vice President Kamala Harris stepped out of her campaign bus at about 6:00 pm and entered the restaurant where a group of adoring fans and campaign media welcomed her and snapped pictures.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff also appeared at the restaurant and spoke with what appeared to be local diners who were very polite and excited to see them.

At one point, a woman directs Harris to meet ‘some of our additional supporters,’ which included a young girl whom Harris warmly greeted and commented on her book she was holding. She spoke to the girl about school and said she was ‘counting on you to be a leader,’ as staffers took pictures of the interaction.

A second staffer then directs Harris to meet a ‘volunteer’ as the Vice President took a photo with the couple.

It’s common for candidates to make stops at local restaurants while on the campaign trail, as Secret Service sometimes makes security sweeps in advance.

Sometimes campaign volunteers get advance notice of events as they typically position themselves to meet their political hero and snag a photo.

It is uncommon, however, for candidates to completely shut down a restaurant in advance of a brief campaign stop.

Trump faced similar ‘staging’ accusations from Democratic activists on social media, after he visited a Chick Fil A in Atlanta where he hugged a conservative activist Michaelah Montgomery. Montgomery later spoke about the moment during an interview with Fox News the following morning.

The Harris campaign has taken additional security measures to prevent unscripted moments or confronting angry protesters unhappy with her handling of the Israeli war in Gaza.

Last week, Harris required attendees of her rally to present photo IDs and waited until the last minute to announce the location of the event.

PoliticsDonald TrumpKamala HarrisFox News