MAYHEM

MAGA Loser Sparks Chaos at Family Restaurant With Vile Ad

Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign stop at a tavern in northeastern Ohio has caused long-lasting problems for the owners.

A MAGA politician sparked furious protests outside an Ohio family restaurant after visiting in the wake of his widely condemned campaign ad just ahead of Election Day.

In late October, the Ohio Republican Party announced that gubernatorial hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy and other GOP candidates would make a campaign bus stop at P.J. Marley’s, a popular burger joint in Medina, Ohio, near Cleveland.

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Restaurant owners Patty and Jon Stahl had agreed to host the event before the controversial ad aired, and they refused to back down despite other businesses canceling on Ramaswamy.

In the ad, Democratic opponent Amy Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, accuses her of being a “liar” regarding her claims of a troubled childhood—a charge that brought into the spotlight Acton’s alleged rape at age 12 by her stepfather, whom Arthur defended instead of her own daughter. Arthur then lost custody of Acton and her brother, and the two women have not spoken since.

As word got out of Ramaswamy’s campaign stop, screaming callers flooded the tavern’s phone line—including one call answered by a 16-year-old host—and online critics branded the owners “vile pedophile supporters” and “pedophile protectors.”

“People were saying, ‘Oh, you’re giving Vivek a platform,’” Jon Stahl told The New York Times. “I looked at it as he was giving us a platform.”

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Stacey Bene, a retired social worker and longtime customer who privately disclosed to Patty Stahl that she was raped at age 14, urged her to cancel, she told the Times. “I cannot separate you from the messages you are allowing to be spread at your facility,” Bene wrote.

When Ramaswamy arrived on Oct. 31, roughly 200 protesters descended on the town square while a video truck displayed his photo alongside the question, “What kind of man runs this ad?”

Near the restaurant’s back patio, neighbor Kellie Biegel livestreamed herself shouting directly at diners, “There they are. Pedophile supporters!”

Inside, Ramaswamy aides papered over the front windows with campaign signs while staffers faced verbal abuse whenever they stepped outside. Bartender Anthony Buchanan recalled a demonstrator yelling, “How can you work for them?”

Democrats ultimately swept nearly every statewide race in Ohio, leaving Ramaswamy to deliver a concession speech calling “to bring Ohio together.”

Meanwhile, the harassment against the Stahls has dragged on, with one Facebook user gloating after the election, “You ruined your business over a loser!”

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