The owner of a pizzeria in Washington, D.C., believes other businesses in the nation's capital should stand for unity as President-elect Donald Trump enters the White House next month, even if they face backlash for doing so.
Mariya Rusciano, who runs Menomale Pizza in Brookland alongside her husband Ettore, knows firsthand what that means. On November 6, the small business owner and registered Democrat, waded into hot water after she shared a post to X congratulating Trump on his election victory.
"The people have spoken. @realDonaldTrump won the popular vote and the electoral college. Congratulations!" The Menomale Pizza owner wrote on X on November 6. "Can we gift @WhiteHouse a nice Italian wood burning pizza oven?"
MAJORITY OF SMALL BUSINESSES ANTICIPATE REVENUE SPIKES UNDER TRUMP'S 1ST YEAR IN OFFICE: DATA
The post was flooded with angry comments from DC residents, where over 92% of the electorate voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.
One local asked Rusciano if she was "trying to go out of business."
"What an odd tweet! You were on my radar as I spend a lot of time in Brookland but I am so confused - are you trying to go out of business?" an X user named Lisa posted in reply.
Several others threatened they would boycott the pizzeria or cursed out the business owners for their "tone-deaf" remark.
"Made it pretty easy to skip your business. I live in Brookland too," one X user wrote.
"Thanks for exposing who you are! Will never be buying anything from this business," another posted.
D.C. RESTAURANT SERVER FIRED AFTER COMMENTS ABOUT REFUSING SERVICE TO SOME TRUMP OFFICIALS
The negative comments were mostly limited to social media, Rusciano told Fox News Digital, although they also received a few email messages and one woman even shouted profanities at her husband outside their shop.
Rusciano clarified that she would've posted a similar message had Harris won the election and didn't feel like they were "doing anything unique" among DC businesses by sharing a post about the election in the political town.
"I expected some unhappy comments. But at the end of the day, both candidates called for unity and emphasized that unity is so important throughout their campaign. So I did not think it would go viral as as much as it did," she told Fox News Digital.
Still, Rusciano feels political discourse in DC has become "more heated" and "more personal" than it was when she and her husband opened their business thirteen years ago.
"When I first voted in 2012, it was okay to still talk to people who voted for the other candidate," she said, lamenting the trend of people cutting off family members who hold different political beliefs. "At the end of the day, we have to respect the will of the people regardless of which party we ascribe to."
After the initial backlash to her post, Rusciano said she's received "many more messages of support," which was really "encouraging."
She strongly believes America isn't as divided as those on social media like to portray it to be.
"Sometimes it's good to get off social media and go out there and talk to real people in real life," Rusciano said. "Everybody has their opinions. But that does not mean that you have to treat people with less dignity or less respect because of their political beliefs or anything else, really. We all deserve that respect."
WASHINGTON, D.C., POLITICAL BAR TAKES DOWN REPUBLICAN SYMBOL AFTER FIERCE BACKLASH
Her comments come after several DC food workers vowed they'd refuse service and cause other inconveniences to Trump officials who came into their restaurants over the next four years.
In comments to The Washingtonian, several bartenders and servers promised to shun certain officials or employ other small acts of resistance against these figures to take their "power back."
Nancy, a fine-dining bartender, told the outlet she would refuse service to certain Trump officials. If her employer tried to force her, she claimed she would quit "on the spot."
"There is power in making it known that you’re not comfortable with a situation, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be this big dramatic show," Nancy said. "It’s just little bits of resistance that add up, and little bits of resistance that other people will see and hopefully feel empowered to stand on those convictions as well."
Rusciano is skeptical these workers would've actually acted on their promises not to serve Trump officials and believes most workers in the DC food industry do not want to be associated with this kind of "intolerance."
"I believe that that article actually represents a really small sample of people in the field. And again, I personally do not believe that they would actually go beyond their words in the article, which, again, is wrong. It should not be like that. The ambiance should be that of inclusiveness and unity," Rusciano added.
