(Maire Clayton, Headline USA) A politically themed bar in Washington, D.C., decided to remove its bipartisan logo shortly after opening due to online backlash from leftists.
Political Pattie’s logo, which used to feature its name with a GOP elephant and a Democrat donkey, now just reads Pattie’s Bar. The establishment’s slogan “Putting the ‘lit’ in politics” was also removed from the exterior.
Looks like both political symbols at Political Pattie’s in DC have been removed from the bar’s logo, if anyone really cares pic.twitter.com/2quLEa9Bys
— DMV News Live (@DCNewsLive) September 24, 2024
The backlash started as the bar was posted to an Instagram meme account, according to the Washington Post.
The spot used to be home to a popular LGBT bar called Dirty Goose and sported a rainbow-covered exterior, which caused leftists to take issue with the new nonpartisan signage.
Owners Andrew Benbow and Sydney Bradford, who also happen to be black, were surprised by the onslaught of comments their bar received.
“People are taking sides and they are entrenching themselves on either side, and they don’t care about the other person’s values” Benbow said. “They don’t care to get to know them.”
The two also stated they fall on different political aisles, as Benbow is a self-described “moderate Republican” and Bradford is a Democrat.
The couple called the attacks “mean spirited” in a lengthy Instagram post.
“What has been happening online to Pattie’s directly resembles what happens in society daily,” they wrote. “Our business was judged by its outside appearance before anyone ever took the chance to learn what we were about on the inside.”
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The owners added they had the “full support” from the previous bar’s owners, and they simply saw the business was for sale and bought it.
While the bar’s current signage has the word “Political” removed, it’s not going anywhere. The two stated it will be back, but in a larger blue print to balance out the red doors.
Benbow told Axios he wanted the bar “to be a place where everyone of every political persuasion can come and enjoy themselves.”
