One Washington, D.C., pizza shop owner said he received more support than backlash for his message of congratulations on President-elect Trump's 2024 victory, saying the praise was a sign that voters were “tired of” polarized politics. He argued that it shows the fact that
Maria Luciano, who owns Menomare Pizza with her husband Ettore, joined “The Faulkner Focus” to discuss the public's reaction to her viral X post.
“People started wanting our restaurant to go out of business, and now we've been here since 2012,” Luciano told Harris Faulkner on Friday.
“Then they started saying we don't need a fascist pizzeria in Washington, D.C.. They asked how we, as immigrants, could celebrate President Trump. Then, of course, we I was called all kinds of names… One woman in particular yelled profanities. “My husband is on the street.'' ”
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“But other than that, it's largely limited to social media,” she continued. “But there was some upside to what we did, because… once this post started circulating throughout Washington, D.C. and the region, we received many messages of support that far outweighed the negative comments. That tells me that even when times are tough, people in areas like Washington, D.C., are tired of divisive rhetoric and it's about time we come together and do the same. It's time to start respecting each other as Americans.”
“The people have spoken. @realDonaldTrump won the popular vote and the electoral college. Congratulations!” the owner of Menomare Pizza wrote. “Can I give @WhiteHouse a nice Italian wood-fired pizza oven?”
The post was flooded with angry comments from D.C. residents, and more than 92% of voters voted in favor. vice president kamala harris.
One local asked Luciano if he was thinking of going out of business.
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“What a strange tweet! I've been following you since I spend a lot of time in Brooklands and I'm so confused. Are you going out of business?” X named Lisa user Posted in reply.
Several others threatened to boycott the pizza shop and criticized the owner for his “tone-deaf” comments.
But Luciano said he's just copying what other companies in Washington, D.C., have historically done when participating in political discussions.
“Frankly, restaurants in Washington, D.C., talk and post about politics on a regular basis,” Luciano said. “There was one particular establishment, I don't remember the name right now, who was posting that they were going to open bottles of champagne if Harris won, so frankly, we just… Trending Topics I jumped on it and just tried it out to promote myself. ”
“I expected some dissatisfied comments, but I didn't expect it to go this far,” she continued.
Luciano previously revealed If Harris won the election and didn't feel like she was “doing something unique” among D.C. companies by sharing posts about the election in Political City, she posted similar messages. He said he would have done so.
Faulkner was asked if the company felt any pressure to keep its employees safe following the social media uproar.
“The situation is calm and normal,” she replied.
FOX Business' Kristine Parks contributed to this report.
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