--- title: Restaurant Owner on Why She Asked Sarah Sanders to Leave description: The restaurant owner who asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave her establishment on Friday night said she was not regretting her decision. canonical: https://time.com/5320482/sarah-huckabee-sanders-virginia-restaurant/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-24T14:23:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:31:57.127Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'I Would Have Done the Same Thing Again.' Restaurant Owner on Why She Asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders to Leave og:description: "There are moments in time when people need to live their convictions" og:url: https://time.com/5320482/sarah-huckabee-sanders-virginia-restaurant/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt148f2f69eb7479cf/69892e524ee262cecf31191e/gettyimages-9310611121.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: White House Press Secretary Delivers Daily Press Briefing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'I Would Have Done the Same Thing Again.' Restaurant Owner on Why She Asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders to Leave twitter:description: "There are moments in time when people need to live their convictions" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt148f2f69eb7479cf/69892e524ee262cecf31191e/gettyimages-9310611121.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'I Would Have Done the Same Thing Again.' Restaurant Owner on Why She Asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders to Leave > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=94a21f24-2dce-4570-b3ec-faa3815de41c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Says She Was Asked to Leave Virginia Restaurant Because of Trump [Watch (HLS stream): Sarah Huckabee Sanders Says She Was Asked to Leave Virginia Restaurant Because of Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NgLWXq49.m3u8) (1:06)  _Published 2018-06-24. Sarah Huckabee Sanders says she politely left a Virginia restaurant on Friday night after the owner told her to exit the business because of her association with President Donald Trump_  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jun 24, 2018 2:23 PM UTC  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jun 24, 2018 2:23 PM UTC The owner of the Virginia restaurant who asked White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave her establishment on Friday night said she did not regret her decision. “I would have done the same thing again,” Stephanie Wilkinson, the owner of the Red Hen restaurant [told the Washington _Post_.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/06/23/why-a-small-town-restaurant-owner-asked-sarah-huckabee-sanders-to-leave-and-would-do-it-again/?noredirect=on&utm%5Fterm=.7a96498da6af) “We just felt there are moments in time when people need to live their convictions. This appeared to be one.” The small restaurant found itself in the national spotlight after Sanders tweeted Saturday morning that she had been asked to leave Red Hen, which is located in Lexington Virginia, because she works in the Trump administration. Sanders did not mention Wilkinson by name, but it was clear the press secretary disagreed with her decision. “Her actions say far more about her than about me,” Sanders said. “I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so.” > [](https://twitter.com/presssec/status/1010536237457924096) Wilkinson told the _Post_ that she wasn’t even in the restaurant when Sanders initially entered; she received a call from the chef at 8 p.m., who told her that Sanders was in the restaurant and the staff was concerned. When she arrived at the restaurant, she told the staff that she could ask Sanders to leave, and they said they wanted her to do that. Wilkinson told the _Post_ that she generally tries to avoid politics, and disagrees politically with several of her regular customers, but ultimately felt that Sanders’ public defense of the Trump Administration qualified as an exception. “This feels like the moment in our democracy when people have to make uncomfortable actions and decisions to uphold their morals,” she told the _Post._ Wilkinson said she told Sanders “the restaurant has certain standards that I feel it has to uphold, such as honesty, and compassion, and cooperation.” Wilkinson also said she did not charge Sanders for the food the group had ordered and the cheese plates they had eaten. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Sarah Huckabee Sanders says she was asked to leave a Virginia restaurant because of Trump. 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