Remember Virginia’s Red Hen restaurant–which famously refused to serve White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in June?
They’re back in the news… because the reaction to the Red Hen has been so hostile that it’s literally destroying the economy of the town of Lexington, Virginia.
According to the local Roanoke Times, Lexington’s tourism industry has collapsed… and now, they’re in need of an immediate influx of “emergency” cash from the regional tourism board:
The Rockbridge Regional Tourism Board “met and decided to pull together emergency funds to increase digital marketing and spread positive messages of the area, especially Lexington, which brings in the largest number of tourists,” according to the Times.
“Director of Marketing Patty Williams said the area is still feeling effects from the controversy — the tourism office received a letter Thursday from a family in Georgia who said they would never come back to the area because of what happened,” they added. “And during the immediate aftermath of the incident, the tourism office received thousands of phone calls and emails.”
“‘For a town our size, it was a significant impact,’ Williams said.”
The town, which has 7,000 people, overwhelmingly voted against Trump in the 2016 election… but surrounding Rockbridge County went overwhelmingly in favor of the President.
Ironically, it’s now Rockbridge County that’s being forced to prop up Lexington with money from the regional emergency fund.
