On Friday, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-SC, uploaded a picture of himself 700 miles away from his home state of South Carolina, standing in front of a New York City Chick-fil-A with a small crowd of people milling about in the background. He attached the caption: “I showed up to their Manhattan location today while visiting NYC to send a clear message: Hands off OUR Chick-Fil-A!”
Graham was specifically protesting a proposed New York bill that would require restaurants at rest stops on the New York Thruway be open seven days per week, which directly challenges Chick-fil-A’s policy of being closed on Sundays.
“While there is nothing objectionable about a fast food restaurant closing on a particular day of the week, service areas dedicated to travelers is an inappropriate location for such a restaurant,” the bill reads. “Publicly owned service areas should use their space to maximally benefit the public. Allowing for retail space to go unused one seventh of the week or more is a disservice and unnecessary inconvenience to travelers who rely on these service areas.”
However, while Graham called on his followers to “join [him] in this fight,” his post was largely met with ridicule, including from other conservatives who said politicians need to choose their battles in order to be taken seriously. “Even when Lindsey Graham says the right things he still manages to look like an absolute fool,” reacted conservative journalist Ben Kew, while commentator Ashley St. Clair wrote: “Thanks for the Chick fil a selfie Lindsey. That’ll show them!”
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