(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) If recent political infighting has revealed anything, it’s that Republicans will betray their fellow party members at the drop of a hat.
But an Idaho bar took it one step further with a recent promotion offering free beer for a month.
ALERT: Anyone who helps ICE identify and ultimately deport an illegal from Idaho gets FREE BEER FOR ONE MONTH at Old State Saloon!
— Old State Saloon (@OldStateSaloon) November 29, 2025
The promotion at the Old State Saloon, in Eagle, Idaho, went viral, garnering nearly 8 million impressions on X, and was even reposted by the Department of Homeland Security.
The first winner, as it turns out, was a local Republican official, who turned in a state GOP lawmaker for hiring illegals as farmhands.
“Yes, I did! I had a free Moon Dog Amber Ale at the Old State Saloon…and a great chat with the owner, Mark Fitzpatrick, whom I also consider a friend,” winner Ryan Spoon told Newsweek, confirming his victory.
Spoon, who is the vice chair of the Ada County Republican Central Committee, reportedly turned in state Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen.
Mickelsen called the beer promotion “despicable,” saying agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement showed up at her farm, where she employes hundreds of workers, and engaged in racial profiling.
“If we start targeting people based upon the color of their skin then we really have a big problem here,” she said.
But as for Old State, which seemed to relish the publicity it was receiving, the bar seemed unlikely to pull the plug on the promotion, saying it may even “award multiple months” of free beer for raids involving more than one deportation.
Spoon first came public with the allegations against Mickelsen at the very start of the Trump administration.
“Could you please send some illegal immigration raids to the businesses owned by Idaho state Rep. Stephanie Mickelson?” he wrote in an X post while tagging Trump border czar Tom Homan. “She has been bragging about how many illegals her businesses employ.”
According to Newsweek, ICE first raided her farm on Jan. 27, seven days after Trump returned to office.
“They just showed up out of the blue Friday morning,” said Mickelsen, the former director of a pro-agriculture lobbying group called the Idaho Farm Bureau.
Politically, some have claimed Mickelsen is a centrist. She defended her values in an op-ed for the Idaho Statesman, saying that “Those who speak up with concerns that challenge certain views are quickly labeled as non-conservative and targeted for harassment.”
But the Old State Saloon slammed her in an X post for being “very liberal” while calling on concerned citizens to file an ethics complaint against her.
Calling Idaho patriots! — Below is something you can do to fight illegal immigration. Let's get liberal reps OUT of office. Starting with an ethics complaint against the very liberal Rep Stephanie Mickelsen. She apparently thinks it's okay to hire felonious illegals! See… https://t.co/6ET94ahjv8 pic.twitter.com/ihEWe1Fieh
— Old State Saloon (@OldStateSaloon) December 3, 2025
Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
