A Washington, D.C., pizzeria owner said she received more than backlash for a congratulatory note sent to President Trump on his 2024 election win, arguing that the praise indicated Voters are “fatigued” with polarized politics.
Mariya Rusciano, who runs Menomale Pizza with her husband Ettore, joins “The Faulkner Focus” to discuss how the public responded to her viral X post.
“People are beginning to wish our restaurants would go out of business. And now we’ve been here since 2012,” Rusciano told Harris Faulkner on Friday.
“Then they started saying that D.C. doesn’t need a fascist pizzeria. They asked, as immigrants, How can we congratulate President Trump? Then, of course, we get called all kinds of names… One woman in particular shouted obscenities at him. My husband on the street.”
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“But aside from that Most of it is limited to social media,” she continued, “but what we do has some merit because… As the post began to spread throughout DC and the region, we received many more messages of support that outweighed the negative comments. Which really showed me that people, even in places like DC, are fed up with divisive rhetoric. And it is time for us to come together and start honoring each other as fellow Americans.”
“People have spoken. @realDonaldTrump Won the popular vote and the Electoral College. Congratulations!” Pizza owner Menomale wrote. “Can we please give @WhiteHouse a beautiful Italian wood fired pizza oven?”
The post was filled with angry comments from residents of D.C., where more than 92% of voters voted for it. Vice President Kamala Harris–
One resident asked Rusciano if she was “trying to liquidate the business.”
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“What a strange tweet! You’re being watched because I spend a lot of time in Brookland. But I’m so confused – are you trying to get out of business?” X User Name Lisa Post in reply–
Others threatened that they would boycott pizzerias or curse business owners for their “tone deaf” talk.
But Rusciano said she was simply following what other Washington, D.C.-based companies have done in the past as they engage in political discussions.
“Quite frankly, restaurants in D.C. regularly discuss and post about politics,” Rusciano said. “There is one establishment in particular. whose name I can’t remember now They posted that they would open a bottle of champagne if Harris won. So, frankly, we just…jumped into trending topics, trying to promote ourselves.”
“And while I expected some dissatisfied comments, I didn’t think it would spread this much,” she continued.
Russiano clarified earlier. that she would have posted a similar message if Harris had won the election and didn’t feel like they were “Do something unique” among D.C. businesses by sharing election-related posts in the political city.
Faulkner was asked if she felt pressured to keep her workers safe after the social media uproar.
“Things proceeded peacefully. and conduct business as usual,” she replied.
FOX Business’ Kristine Parks contributed to this report.
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