In a political climate as charged up as that in the United States, openly showing your support to any party or any figure might be a risky affair.
In a recent example of such a case, two female workers at a Smoothie King franchise in Ann Arbor, Michigan, were fired for refusing to serve a couple. But why did they refuse to serve the couple? — Well, because the husband was wearing a Donald Trump hoodie.
Erika Lindemyer and her husband, Jake, were denied their order after the two workers stated that they did not feel comfortable serving them. Reportedly, Jake’s pro-Trump apparel influenced the workers’ decision. Erika recorded the entire incident on her phone.
According to the couple, denying them service over personal political views amounted to discrimination. However, the two female workers responded by saying that they had the right to refuse service and asked the couple to leave.
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“We were just wanting a smoothie and you literally looked at us and I asked you if everything was OK and you said ‘We don’t feel comfortable serving you’ because of my husband’s hoodie. That is discrimination,” Erika claimed.
“Okay, well, have a great day,” the first server said. “That is illegal,” Erika replied.
“I said Trump discriminates [against] us,” the second employee said. Hearing this, Erika responded by saying, “Okay, well that has nothing to do with us getting a smoothie!”
One of the servers then said,” That’s who you support, though, not who you love.”
Following this, Erika said, “What’s embarrassing is that we’re American citizens and I wanted to get a smoothie.” The confrontation escalated and the couple exited the store, with Erika threatening to call the police.
Later, the franchise addressed the incident through an official statement on its social media accounts.
In a post on X, Smoothie King stated, “As a brand, Smoothie King is committed to ensuring our stores are a place free of discrimination of any kind, where every guest and team member is treated with care and respect.”
— Smoothie King (@SmoothieKing) March 3, 2026
The Texas-based company officials apologized to the customers and said that the franchise owner will be taking further action, including mandatory retraining for all employees to reinforce guest experience standards.
According to the Detroit News, a clip of the confrontation was posted on X, which went viral by the night of Monday, March 2, and received more than 666,000 views.
In a separate video, one of the employees, who identified herself as a minor, stated that she was recorded without permission and asked viewers to help remove the viral clip, citing that she was receiving racist threats online. The employee also created a GoFundMe page, where she acknowledged declining service to Trump supporters.
A pro-Trump account urged GoFundMe to take action, arguing that the employee should not be allowed to raise money after allegedly discriminating against customers. The page was later removed following multiple complaints.
Meanwhile, Trump has received a series of low approval ratings in recent months. The latest YouGov/The Economist poll shows Trump’s net approval rating at minus 18.
Enten: “Trump is doing absolutely awful in the minds of the American people. We’re talking about new lows. CNBC, -13 net approval on the economy. It’s -19 among Quinnipiac … Trump is at his lowest point ever in either of his terms. He’s not just beating himself with record lows… pic.twitter.com/c8dzAaFdGQ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 23, 2025
This is the lowest rating he has hit including both his first and second terms. Only 38 percent of Americans approve of his decisions, while 56 percent disapprove. Other surveys have shown similar results. An Ipsos poll found 59 percent disapproval, while Fox News reported a 56 percent disapproval rating.
