RAW DEAL

MAGA Senator Coughs Up Cookie Dough After 6-Year Standoff

A bakery owner served up an almost $700 unpaid invoice for sweet treats bought during COVID-19.

Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall was forced to pay an outstanding bakery bill after being publicly shamed for the debt.

Marshall, 66, was first elected to the Senate in the 2020 election. His campaign ordered cookies, muffins, and brownies for the primary watch party, and never paid the bill—only for it to take front and center as he runs for re-election.

“Do you know why I will never vote for Roger Marshall? Because six years ago, when I was a brand-new small business owner, his campaign ordered cookies and treats from my bakery for his primary election watch party. And I never got paid,” Holly Thomas of Holly’s Sweet Treats wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

“For nearly a year, I made repeated attempts to collect payment, reaching out by phone and email. I never received a return phone call, and the invoice was never paid.”

Thomas made it clear that the debt wasn’t small potatoes for her, and she was still angry after all these years.

“Not only was I just starting out, but we were also in the middle of COVID, when small businesses everywhere were struggling just to keep their doors open. Every single dollar mattered,” she wrote.

Thomas’ post quickly spread online, with many pointing to recent revelations that Marshall, a doctor, had sued patients for unpaid bills hundreds of times, with 81 arrested for failing to pay.

The unpaid bill was bad news for Marshall, who is fighting to keep his seat in a tight race against Democrat Adam Hamilton.

If he loses, he will be the first Republican candidate to lose a Senate race in Kansas since 1932.

On Saturday afternoon, Marshall sought to repair his crumbling image, posting to X that he had finally paid the bill for 150 frosted sugar cookies, 100 mini strawberry muffins, and 100 fudge brownies, with interest.

“We have absolutely no idea how this happened, but rest assured as soon as it became known to us, we immediately attempted to contact the business in order to apologize, and we have repaid the bill from 2020, double,” he wrote.

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He also posted an image of an online transaction, crediting Holly’s Sweet Treats $1,300.

His attempt at clean up was quickly seized upon by angry X users who said he should have to experience the same ordeal his patients had, a reference to reporting by The New York Times about Marshall, an OB-GYN, suing mothers who had recently given birth when they were unable to pay.

He stopped practicing medicine in 2016, when he ran for Kansas’ first congressional district in the House of Representatives. The Times said he still pursued the debts of his patients after becoming a congressman.

Marshall told voters at a debate at the Kansas State Fair last month to believe “none of what you read in the New York Times,” but did not explicitly deny any of the claims.

“If this were a pregnant woman’s $50 medical debt, you would have had her arrested,” one X user quipped in response to Marshall’s announcement of his settled bakery bill.

“They should have called for your arrest or sued you just as you did to your patients,” another said.

Thomas confirmed she’d received the payment.

“Better late than never, right? Six years later, I guess we can finally mark that invoice PAID!” she said on Facebook.

Even then, one poster noted that the $1,300 Marshall had paid didn’t match his own expectations.

“18% interest compounded over 6 years = $1830.97 without any standard gratuity. Granted 18% seems high, but heard that was standard practice...”

Thomas said the initial order had been placed by a campaign staff member, so she didn’t “put all the blame on [Marshall]. But as a business owner, when my staff messes up, it falls on me as well.”

In response to a request for comment, Marshall’s campaign did not address the controversy, instead telling the Daily Beast that he “has fought for and delivered major wins for our farmers, cut taxes for the middle class, and secured the border.”

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