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NY grocery store faces boycott for offering 20% off to Trump backers, Internet asks ‘if they banned masks too’

Jose Colon, the owner of the Fresh Food Supermarket, also said he would do the same for Joe Biden’s supporters, but got no relief

LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK: A grocery store in Long Island, New York, is facing boycott threats from shoppers after it announced that it would give 20 percent off to the supporters of Donald Trump. Jose Colon, the owner of the Fresh Food Supermarket, also said he would do the same for Joe Biden’s supporters, but got no relief.

Colon announced the discount on the store’s Facebook page on Wednesday, October 21, with a graphic that read, “Trump supporters get 20% off. Mention at the cash register you are a Trump supporter to get discount (excludes beer).” However, soon after sharing the post, he received a lot of backlash. Social media users told him they would boycott his business as well as inform local health inspectors. "We’re supposed to live in a free country. This is weird. It's crazy,” Colon, a native of the Dominican Republic, who is now a US citizen said as reported by The Sun.

The store owner also said he would offer the same deal for Biden supporters. But did not share any post related to it. “We live in a free country where we support democracy, where we can go both ways, we can support left, right -- whatever you want. I decided to vote and support the best interest, I believe, for this country. But at the same time, I meant to post, to do the 20%, also for Biden," Colon said, while adding that before he could announce any offer for the Democratic candidate’s supporters, he was swamped with negative comments.

At the time of writing this story, the post has received more than one thousand comments, mostly hateful. It has also been shared by over 200 people. One user commented on the Facebook post, “Wow that’s a great way to discourage people from shopping. Nothing like insulting half the population!” Another one said, “Really a dumb move for a business of any kind to support one candidate over another. At very least you're alienating at least half your potential customers, and probably more.”

“What a disgrace. I will never set foot on your store again (which I really only did to try to help you guys out because the store is overpriced and understocked and clearly suffering) but nope. Never again. Way to alienate the few customers you had. The ones you gain will not patronize your store after they get a look at what is going on inside,” added the third user on Facebook.

People on Twitter also reacted to the news as a person tweeted: “It does seem like Long Island is an anomaly with lots of Trump supporters so I bet this helps them more than it hurts.” A second user wrote: “The people running this must be Trump University grads. Why would any retail store alienate 50%+ of their potential customers? I've never been there and it's safe to say I never will be there. P.S. do they ban mask wearing?”

“In other words.. those who support a draft-dodging  President who scorns soldiers get a discount but those who support a man who has dedicated his life to public service do not. Only in Trump’s America.  SAD!” added another person on Twitter.