The Primanti Bros. sandwich shop chain fired a manager for refusing service to JD Vance.
A rumor that the popular sandwich shop chain Primanti Bros. fired a manager who refused service to 2024 vice-presidential candidate JD Vance circulated online in late September. For example, a Facebook page with over 1.1 million followers named Red Wave posted (archived) on Sept. 30, “The Primanti Brothers has FIRED the manager who refused service to JD Vance!” That post received over 40,000 reactions, including 33,000 likes.
Self-described “legendary Black redneck” musician Joel Patrick posted (archived) the same rumor to his over 885,000 followers on Facebook. Other users also reposted the claim on Facebook, Threads, Truth Social and X.
These readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, there was no evidence Primanti Bros. fired a manager after a Vance campaign stop.
Rather, the rumor about Primanti Bros. firing a manager originated with America’s Last Line of Defense (ALLOD) — a network of Facebook pages and websites that describes its output as being humorous or “satirical” in nature.
A ‘Satirical’ Facebook Page Invented the Story
On Sept. 29, the America’s Last Line of Defense Facebook page posted, “The Primanti Brothers manager who refused to allow JD Vance in the store was fired by the company.” That same Facebook page identifies itself as publishing satire and parody, along with the displayed bio, “The flagship of the ALLOD network of trollery. Nothing on this page is real.”
Eleven minutes after an ALLOD page manager published that post, it was shared on the Love It Or Leave It — another Facebook page under the umbrella of the same satire network. That post read, “Primanti Brothers has FIRED the manager who refused service to JD Vance!”
Again, the bio of the page read, “A subsidiary of the America’s Last Line of Defense network of trollery. Nothing on this page is real.”
Vance’s Primanti Bros. Campaign Stop and Comment About ‘Nervous’ Manager
The fictional story about the firing spread amid national news reports that a Primanti Bros. manager stopped Vance’s team from entering one of the company’s restaurants in North Versailles, Pennsylvania.
CBS News reported of the Sept. 28 campaign visit:
Washington County GOP chair Sean Logue was one of what he said was about 100 Trump supporters inside the restaurant who had been tipped off that Vance would make a stop there. They arrived an hour early.
“The manager told patrons, other Republicans, that Vance is not allowed to make a campaign stop at Primanti Brothers,” Logue said. “And then when there was pushback to say, ‘Wait a second, Kamala Harris just did this a month ago,’ the response was, ‘Well, if he wants to sit down and order food, we can’t stop him.'”
When Vance did arrive ahead of an event […] Logue said that the restaurant’s manager ran out to tell him that he was not allowed in the restaurant, that he couldn’t have a campaign stop there, and that if he did go inside – they’d call the police and file trespassing charges.
Statements from Primanti Bros. and Vance’s Campaign
On the same day, Primanti Bros. issued a statement (archived) on social media, saying in part, “Our doors are open to all patrons who wish to dine with us. Without any advance notice, today’s campaign stop caused some momentary confusion for our staff. However, Senator Vance and his team were welcomed into our restaurant shortly after and engaged with our guests inside and on the property. Senator Vance’s supportive comments that our manager got a little nervous given the Secret Service, police and crowd accurately reflect the nature of what occurred, and we are glad that it was quickly resolved.”
The statement’s mention of “Vance’s supportive comments” referenced remarks he delivered outside the restaurant at the end of his visit. A video clip showed Vance telling patrons he paid for their food and gave a “nice tip.” He also added of the manager, “It’s all right. Don’t hold it against her. She just got a little nervous. But it’s a great local business. Let’s keep on supporting it. And most importantly, Nov. 5 or before, go vote. Let’s win this thing.”
Even with Vance’s positive remarks about the restaurant, Washington County GOP chair Sean Logue told CBS News, “Vance is a true gentleman, and he was being very nice and very gracious, and he was being magnanimous, and he didn’t want to cause any other problems.” Logue added, “I’m being honest with you. I’m telling you that the way Primanti Brothers treated me and the other Republicans is absolutely unacceptable, and nowhere in their statement is an apology, where’s my apology Primanti Brothers.”
The CBS News story also mentioned that Logue said Primanti’s had been trying to call him but he wouldn’t take the calls.
Harris-Walz Campaign Stop at Primanti Bros. in August 2024
Snopes had addressed a related story in August, in which the campaign for U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said they paid to rent out a different Primanti Bros. restaurant location for an evening, so that local volunteers could meet the candidates. Online users made several claims about the campaign stop, some of which were misleading.
However, despite any of those claims, in the weeks that followed, the Harris-Walz campaign featured at least one photo from the stop in at least one campaign ad. That ad did not inform viewers that the picture featured campaign volunteers at a rented-out restaurant.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
