Italian American Civil Rights League Condemns Primanti Brothers Over JD Vance Drama

On Saturday, just before a campaign stop in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, JD Vance and his campaign staff decided to make a stop at a chain restaurant called Primanti Brothers.

Upon their arrival, the manager of the Pittsburgh-area Primanti Brothers location reportedly became enraged, telling Vance that he must leave the restaurant, and that if he did not, that the manager would call the police and file trespassing charges against the Vice Presidential nominee.

Upon news that Vance would not be eating at the restaurant, over 100 supporters of Vance and former President Trump who had gathered in the eatery began demanding their checks and walking out of the location.

Primanti Bros restaurant in Pittsburgh, PA wouldn’t let JD Vance in to greet his supporters.

The supporters paid for their drinks, cancelled their orders, and left.pic.twitter.com/xM3kD7rGtv

— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) September 28, 2024

The Italian American Civil Rights League, founded in 1970, has long been a group that has fought against Italian discrimination in the United States. On Sunday night, the IACRL released a damning statement condemning Primanti Bros. for their treatment of Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance.

Based in New Jersey, the Italian American Civil Rights League has long defended Italian-Americans from the dangerous stereotype of mob violence often falsely attributed to their people due to depictions in television and film.

In their statement on the incident that occurred in Pennsylvania between Primanti Brothers and JD Vance, the Italian Civil Rights League slammed the restaurant, issuing a formal condemnation of the restaurant chain over the incident.

“No shoes, no shirt, no conservatives,” the letter begins, “The Italian American Civil Rights League Condemns Primanti Bros for Discrimination New Jersey.”

“The Italian American Civil Rights League today issued a formal condemnation of the Primanti Bros restaurants for their disgraceful lack of hospitality to Senator JD Vance. “Primanti Bros restaurants refused service to Senator JD Vance for no good reason,” said Mike Crispi, President of the Italian American Civil Rights League. Pittsburgh-area chain of restaurants – refused to allow Vance to enter and even threatened to call the police if he tried.

“As a people, Italian-Americans are known for our hospitality,” Crispi said. “Primanti Bros tables should always be open to every American regardless of their political beliefs.” Crispi said the actions of Primanti Bros are reminiscent of Jim Crow America when Black Americans were turned away from the Woolworth’s lunch counter simply because of their race. “Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and the Greensboro Four were heroes for their courageous work uniting Americans in every facet of civil life,” Crispi said.

The scathing letter then continues,

“The IACRL rejects any effort by an Italian-American business to divide and punish Americans for their political beliefs.” Crispi said the Primanti Bros incident is just the latest in a series of exclusionary efforts by corporate conglomerates to bully or threaten friends and staffers of President Trump merely for their political beliefs. “This all started with Maxine Waters who called on left-wing activists to ‘confront’ Trump supports in restaurants and tell us we’re ‘not welcome anymore, anywhere’,” Crispi said. “Now Primanti Bros has taken it even further saying, ‘No shoes, no shirt, no conservatives’.” Crispi went on to cite the Red Hen restaurant that denied service to Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “We can’t allow the behavior of Primanti Bros to leave a bad taste in the mouth of Senator Vance,” Crispi said. “It would be our honor to show him and his staff true Italian American hospitality.” Crispi the IACRL would organize an authentic Italian-American dinner for Vance as soon as this Tuesday, following his debate in New York City.”

“Sono una vergogna; they are a disgrace!”

Primanti Bros has given Italian Americans across this nation a bad name.

Their refusal to serve JD Vance this weekend is reminiscent of Jim Crow.@TheIACRL is calling for a Primanti boycott and we would like to welcome Senator Vance to a true Italian Sunday Dinner! pic.twitter.com/46lQkYZdej

— The Italian American Civil Rights League (@TheIACRL) September 29, 2024

Primanti Brothers has released a statement of their own on the subject, claiming that their manager at the Pittsburgh location did in face allow JD Vance and his team to enter the restaurant, and only hesitated to do so because of a nervous attitude towards the Secret Service and police detail escorting Vance to the event.

The full statement released by Primanti Brothers on this incident in Pittsburgh reads,

Primanti’s prides itself on being a staple of the Pittsburgh community and a proud American business that has hosted sitting presidents, politicians, and political candidates from across the spectrum for over 90 years. Our doors are open to all patrons who wish to dine with us. Without any advance notice, today’s campaign stop caused some momentary confusion for our staff. However, Senator Vance and his team were welcomed into our restaurant shortly after and engaged with our guests inside and on the property. Senator Vance’s supportive comments that our manager got a little nervous given the secret service, police and crowd accurately reflect the nature of what occurred, but we are glad that it was resolved quickly.

Despite this definitive statement by Primanti Brothers, which clearly states that Vance was allowed into the restaurant, Washington County GOP chair Sean Logue, who was among the 100 patrons in the restaurant at the time Vance arrived, issued a contradicting statement to CBS News about the events that unfolded in the Pittsburgh restaurant.

“Number one, he was not welcomed,” Logue told CBS News. “JD Vance, on his own accord, risking a trespassing charge, walked into Primanti’s, paid the bill for all of us, and walked out two minutes later.”

In a video shared by Logue on his social media pages, JD Vance said the following outside the restaurant after allegedly being told to leave,

“Look I think what happened is she [the manager] just freaked out a little bit because there were a lot of people and she didn’t want to make her restaurant part of a campaign stop. It’s alright, don’t hold it against her, she just got a little nervous, it’s a great local business, let’s keep supporting it.”

Just 38 days out from the most consequential election in American history, and there is certainly no shortage of drama on the campaign trail. Former President Donald Trump, according to RealClearPolitics, leads Vice President Kamala Harris in nearly every swing state.

Harris has gained a lead in both Wisconsin and Michigan, two states that continue to lean further towards Democrat strongholds with each passing election.

Pennsylvania continues to be a main focus of both campaigns, making this scene caused at Primanti Brothers possibly consequential heading into the 2024 Election.