Philly Restaurant Bans GOP Candidate After Being Told Campaign Stop Was Autism Event

“You’re not welcome back.”

That’s the message the manager of Philadelphia cheesesteak joint Max’s Steaks had for Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick, after his campaign held an event outside the restaurant Friday that the eatery was told would be about autism awareness.

Mike Sfida—who agreed to hold the event because his niece and nephew have autism—was alarmed when he saw Donald Trump signs being hung outside the beloved North Philly spot on Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported . McCormick arrived, gave a campaign stump address, and then handed out free sandwiches.

“We didn’t sign up for that at all. Zero,” he told the newspaper after the event, which he allowed the McCormick team to finish before making clear they should stay away from his restaurant thereafter. “I could throw them all out of here, but I’m going to be nice. Do your thing. When you’re done, leave. You’re not welcome back.”

Sfida told the Inquirer it was a local Republican operative, Sheila Armstrong, who contacted him to schedule the event, which she did on behalf of her nonprofit organization, Cooking4Autism, without mentioning McCormick’s campaign.

Armstrong is a member of the anti-LGBT group Moms for Liberty, which campaigns against school curricula that discusses LGBT rights or race and which the civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center has classified as a far-right extremist group.

She was a paid staffer for the failed campaign of Republican Mehmet Oz — lost to U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) in 2022— but, the Inquirer reported, appears to have no official affiliation with McCormick. She told the newspaper she offered to be a liaison for the GOP candidate in Philadelphia.

Pressed by the newspaper about whether the campaign stop was an autism awareness event, Armstrong claimed “it’s always autism awareness because I’m an education advocate” and said she spoke to those gathered about autism at one point.

“We certainly apologize for any confusion,” said a spokesperson for McCormick.

But the disaster didn’t end there.

After showing up at a cheesesteak restaurant to campaign under the auspice of an autism awareness event, McCormick went across the street to East Bethel Baptist Church, which happened to be holding an outdoor fundraiser for its food ministry.

The Rev. Thomas Edwards Jr., who leads the church, told the campaign to leave because he didn’t want the GOP candidate to use photos of his congregation for campaigning purposes.

“You can Photoshop,” he told the Inquirer . “You can make things seem like they aren’t. Maybe they’re going to post we’re eating dogs or eating cats, like in Ohio. Forgive me if I’m wrong. I don’t trust these people.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.