Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she and two friends were asked to leave The Croissanterie in Little Rock after the owner told her security detail that staff felt “threatened and uncomfortable” by her presence. The restaurant did not respond publicly to The Daily Wire’s request for comment, and an employee later posted a message on Facebook criticizing the governor.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a former White House press secretary, said she was asked to leave The Croissanterie, a restaurant in Little Rock, while eating lunch with two friends.
In an account published by The Daily Wire on March 19, Sanders said the restaurant’s owner approached a member of her state police executive protection detail and told them that Sanders’s presence made employees feel “threatened and uncomfortable” because of her political views. Sanders told The Daily Wire that she had been in the restaurant for a little more than an hour and that, during the meal, other patrons approached her to thank her for her work in Arkansas. She said she and her friends had already eaten and paid by the time they were asked to leave.
Sanders said she chose to leave without creating a scene after her security detail was informed of the request. The Daily Wire reported that, as the group departed, people began shouting “It’s time to leave” and making an obscene gesture toward her.
The episode drew comparisons to a widely reported incident in June 2018, when Sanders—then serving as White House press secretary—was asked to leave The Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, according to contemporaneous reporting by TIME. The Daily Wire reported that the Red Hen later permanently closed in 2023.
In a statement quoted by The Daily Wire, Sanders said: “Arkansans are known for their warm hospitality, and while that restaurant certainly doesn’t meet that standard, my administration will continue to focus on lifting Arkansans up, not tearing others down with discrimination and hate.”
The Croissanterie did not respond to The Daily Wire’s request for comment, the outlet said. After the story was published, The Daily Wire reported that restaurant employees posted on Facebook, including a message attributed to an employee identified as Hickman that criticized the governor and included the line: “Sarah Huckabee Sanders, no amount of evil you send our way can ever take our smiles away!!!”
The Daily Wire also noted that Sanders is seeking reelection this year and said she won the governor’s race in 2022 by nearly 30 percentage points and that polls show her viewed positively by more than half of Arkansans.
