Las Vegas Restaurateur Hosts Trump, Faces Boycott, Is Unrepentant

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There are certain principles — certain basic human rights — that are essential in a truly free society, and one of them is freedom of expression — most especially political expression. One such expression of a political conviction might include, for example, a restauranteur hosting a political candidate. That is what happened in Las Vegas, where Javier Barajas hosted Donald Trump for a “No Taxes on Tips” event in his restaurant, “II Toro e La Capra.” Now he is facing boycott threats over that event (also, I might add, an expression of a political conviction), and he is sticking by his guns.

A Las Vegas restaurant owner has faced boycott calls since hosting former President Trump for a press conference on his “No Taxes on Tips” policy, but he isn’t about to cave to the pressure.

“I was so grateful to have President Donald Trump in my restaurant. [But] I’ve been having a lot of phone calls, a lot of TikToks that people make, talking bad about me and my restaurant, but, at the same time, I’ve been having a lot of good response, too,” Javier Barajas told “Fox & Friends First” on Thursday.

Barajas owns Mexican-Italian restaurant II Toro e La Capra, where the former president pitched his “No Taxes on Tips” policy with a televised message last month.

He spoke positively of Trump and his idea at the time, a local outlet reported, and doubled down on the support on Thursday, telling co-host Carley Shimkus he supports the GOP candidate’s immigration policies and believes Trump will do more to support the working class.

Granted, the boycotters — should such a boycott materialize — are also, as noted above, expressing a political opinion. That, too, is part of free speech.

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What is good to see here is that Mr. Barajas is sticking to his own principles. It is principles, not principals, after all, that are the issue here.

Still, while it will be mildly surprising to see any effective boycott happen in this case — in Nevada, hosting Trump may well gain Mr. Barajas as much business as it costs him — a boycott can be very effective if it grows legs, as the Bud Light people learned to their sorrow. What’s more, a boycott can open doors for more competition, which, in the end, is good for consumers.

Free speech — freedom of expression — is a wonderful thing. It’s also essential to the functioning of a republic, like ours. That’s why stupid things like campaigns against “disinformation” must be opposed at every turn; the result of that stupidity could only be setting up some group of government apparatchiks to decide what is “disinformation” and what is not, and I think we can all imagine down which dark path that would take us.

Meanwhile, kudos to Mr. Barajas for sticking by his guns, and if you’re in the Las Vegas area, stop in and give his restaurant a try!

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