Primanti Bros. and JD Vance explain incident at Pennsylvania bus stop as social media calls for boycott

If you took a trip to social media on Saturday, you probably saw Primanti Brothers trending, and if you took the time to do any research, you probably know it was a tough day for the restaurant.

It turns out that JD Vance was trying to stop by one of his locations in North Vesailles, Pennsylvania, and from that came the story that he was denied entry, that the Primanti Brothers threatened to call the police on him, and that all his supporters were thrown out.

There are videos, and many MAGA and right-wing social media personalities have run with them. Roger Stone was among those who called for a boycott of Primanti.

But the restaurant says that didn't happen at all.

“Primanti's is proud to be an integral part of the Pittsburgh community and a proud American company, having hosted sitting presidents, politicians and political candidates from across the spectrum for over 90 years,” the restaurant said in a statement on X. “ Our doors are open to all guests who would like to dine with us.

“Without prior notice, today’s campaign stop caused temporary confusion among our employees,” the statement continued. “However, Senator Vance and his team were welcomed into our restaurant shortly thereafter and interacted with our guests inside and on the property. Senator Vance's supportive comments that our manager became somewhat nervous about the Secret Service, police and crowds accurately reflect the nature of the incident and we are pleased that the issue was quickly resolved.”

TribLive.com reported that VanceIn fact, he interacted with a “small crowd” outside Primanti's.

“We paid for everyone's food, we gave them a nice tip and of course when I gave a nice tip I said, 'No taxes on tips,'” Vance said, per TribLive.com. “Everything is fine. Don’t hold it against (the worker). She was just a little nervous, but it's a great local shop. Let’s continue to support it.”

Unfortunately, the restaurant's statement and Vance's words seemingly supporting this report appear to have been largely ignored on social media. One topic of conversation among these people was an August event that Kamala Harris-Tim Walz reserved at a Primanti in Moon Township. However, unlike Vance's visit, this event was reportedly coordinated in advance.