The response was swift and brutal. Vance supporters, angered by what they saw as blatant political discrimination, took to social media to express their outrage. Within hours, #BoycottPrimantiBros was trending, with calls for customers to avoid the sandwich chain like it was serving up a side of political bias with every meal.
What started as a local dispute quickly snowballed into a full-fledged boycott, with Vance’s supporters calling for the restaurant’s patrons to stand up against what they viewed as corporate bias. Soon, it wasn’t just about the incident at North Versailles—Primanti Bros. found itself accused of political favoritism after it was revealed that Vice President Kamala Harris had visited the very same location just a few weeks earlier. And unlike Vance, she was greeted with open arms, handshakes, and photo ops.
Critics of the restaurant accused it of playing politics with pastrami, and the calls for a boycott only grew louder. By the end of the first week, the restaurant was hemorrhaging customers, and the situation was becoming dire.
“It’s not about the sandwiches anymore,” said one boycott supporter on social media. “It’s about standing up for fairness and showing these businesses that they can’t pick and choose which politicians they serve based on their own bias.”
