President Donald Trump's supporters cried foul after Indianapolis woman Elise Hensley claimed she was kicked out of an Indianapolis bar for wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat—prompting many to call out the blatant hypocrisy.
Hensley claims she was removed from a local bar for wearing a MAGA hat, while the bar maintains she was asked to leave for harassing an employee. According to Hensley, she and her friends visited the popular Chatterbox Jazz Club on Friday night, a venue they’ve frequented before. However, this time, some of them decided to wear hats in support of Trump.
In a viral video, a Chatterbox bartender is seen telling Hensley to “get out of my bar right now.” The video does not show what led to the exchange, but the bartender is heard telling her she is not welcome in the establishment “because you’re a Trump supporter.”
He says:
"We can call the police, or you can just leave."
Hensley responds:
"You know this is like, discrimination, right?"
You can see the video below.
Hensley suggested the bartender was adversarial from the moment she and her friends walked in:
“We went up to the bar and before we could even get a word out or order a drink, he just looked at me and said, ‘No.' 'I said, ‘Excuse me.’ He said, ‘Absolutely not,’ he said, ‘Your hat. You need to leave right now.’”
Hensley also defended her decision to wear a MAGA hat out in public:
“I wore that hat because I do love our President of the United States. He is our president. I do appreciate that and I don’t think I find anything wrong with me wanting to wear a Trump hat because he is our president.”
However, in a March 16 post on Instagram, the club stated that the woman and others in her group were asked to leave because they “intentionally misgendered and harassed a Chatterbox employee":
“On Friday, March 14th, a group of individuals visited Chatterbox and intentionally misgendered and harassed a Chatterbox employee, resulting in them being asked to leave by our staff. They then continued verbally assaulting our patrons and staff, threatened our establishment, and returned to record a video which has not been posted on multiple social media platforms."
"The Chatterbox is home to a diverse group of staff and patrons. We do not tolerate dehumanizing or disrespectful language or symbolism in our establishment. We have a right, by law, to refuse service to anyone who disrupts our business. We look forward to continue being a home for people who love music and appreciate our community."
You can see the club's post below.
There is an element of hypocrisy to Hensley complaining about being kicked out of a bar when the MAGA movement has long invited scorn for its exclusionary politics and its association with Christian nationalists, white supremacists and assorted hate groups.
Additionally, members of the far-right have often touted their right to refuse service to anyone—particularly members of the LGBTQ+ community—citing their First Amendment right to free exercise of religion. Since President Donald Trump took office, his administration has hacked away at discrimination laws and protections as part of its efforts to shrink the federal government.
People were quick to call this out.
Remember, Hensley: It's not like Trump supporters are a protected class.
Just ask the Trumpsters freaking out now that they've lost their jobs due to all those federal spending cuts they seem to think weren't supposed to affect them.
