On the heels of Donald Trump’s inflammatory comments deriding Mexican immigrants, D.C.-based chef José Andrés announced that he will withdraw from opening his flagship restaurant in the forthcoming Trump hotel – a $200 million redevelopment project at the historic Old Post Office Pavilion on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Republican presidential candidate and business magnate responded with force as his son, Donald Trump Jr., threatened the famed restauranteur with potential legal action to recover unpaid rent for the original 10-year contract.
“Donald Trump’s recent statements disparaging immigrants make it impossible for my company and I to move forward with opening a successful Spanish restaurant in Trump International’s upcoming hotel in Washington, D.C.,” a statement from Mr. Andrés read.
The Latino community and many high-profile business partners of Mr. Trump have denounced his declaration that undocumented immigrants are “bringing drugs” and are “rapists.” An outspoken champion for comprehensive immigration reform himself, Chef Andrés now adds his name to that growing list of severed corporate ties.
“More than half of my team is Hispanic, as are many of our guests,” the statement from Mr. Andrés continued. “And, as a proud Spanish immigrant and recently naturalized American citizen myself, I believe that every human being deserves respect, regardless of immigration status.”
But while Mr. Trump’s business interests seem to have taken a hit from his discriminatory comments, his fellow Republican presidential opponents haven’t been as quick to rebuke. The growing GOP cohort is finding themselves split between offering Mr. Trump blind praise, maintaining a distant silence, or in fact castigating the reckless hotelier whose superego seems intoxicated by presidential aspirations.
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