Cardboard cutout of President Trump upsets some customers at Johnston coffee shop
JOHNSTON, R.I. (WLNE) – A cardboard cutout of President Donald Trump inside of a Johnson coffee shop is causing quite a stir.
Brewed Awakenings in Johnston had President Trump positioned inside their front doors by the register for a few hours on Sunday. Owner David Levesque said the cardboard cutout is already gone, but it was there long enough to infuriate some customers who took their distaste to social media.
Levesque, who started the coffee chain 24 years ago, said he gave permission to a customer to put up the cutout.
“We had a local resident, I believe, a delegate, looking to collect names to get Trump on the ballot for Rhode Island. I said, yeah, you’re more than welcome to!”
But when customers came in to get coffee, some were upset by the sight.
“One particular gentleman didn’t like it. He had been a customer for a long time and he was taking his business elsewhere,” said Levesque.
That customer posted his distaste to Facebook, and so did several others, saying that when they saw Trump in the store, along with “Build The Wall” signs, they walked out.
“I certainly have no intention of bashing any individuals or the company: my point was more that it was inappropriate to have that going on inside of a business, and was turning off long- time customers,” said the Facebook poster, Matthew Aspeel.
The post took off on Facebook, getting thousands of comments and hundreds of shares.
“Now I’m reading through the comments, a lot of them are hilarious, some are a little outrageous and rude,” Levesque said Monday.
He wants his customers to know that while he’s a President Trump supporter himself, his doors are open for any customer to use his coffee shop for the same thing.
“The sign was put up by someone who wanted to collect signatures, and we would do the same whether it be Bernie Sanders, or Elizabeth Warren, or whoever.”
© WLNE-TV 2020
