Manuel’s Tavern, a longtime drinking hole with Democratic Party ties, has come under fire this week after introducing a “baloney” sandwich called “The Donald.”
Manuel's owner Brian Maloof issued a Facebook statement Friday afternoon after some customers complained that the sandwich, introduced on the same day of former FBI director James Comey's testimony in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, tastelessly mocked President Donald Trump.
Some Facebook users had called for Maloof to change the sandwich’s name.
Others claimed Manuels’ lost their business due to the sandwich special.
Maloof’s response to those critics Friday noted that Manuels’ was established by his father, Manuel Maloof, a top leader in the Democratic Party during his lifetime.
» RELATED: Flashback photos: Manuel Maloof and his Tavern, 1978-2015
“Yesterday, in a light-hearted move, we ran a simple lunch special sandwich 'The Donald.’ We were just having fun. Many of you enjoyed the joke and also the sandwich. Others did not and have called and written to complain,” Maloof wrote in a Facebook post Friday.
Maloof did not apologize for the sandwich, but he states that his establishment serves “customers of many different political beliefs.”
“Yesterday’s ”Baloney” sandwich special was a simple poke at all the craziness going on with President Trump,” he continues, “Friends, it was not a severed head picture, it was a sandwich,” referring to the controversy surrounding comedian Kathy Griffin’s video holding a bloody effigy of Trump.
He also pointed out that in the ’90s, the restaurant served a “Monica” sandwich targeting then-President Bill Clinton.
On Friday, most Facebook user responded with support and appeared shocked that Manuels’ regulars would be offended by the sandwich.
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