Yesterday, I tweeted that I considered Sarah Sanders tweet about being asked to leave the Red Hen restaurant an abuse of government power. Since I got quite a few questions on Twitter about that I want to elaborate the argument in a blog post.

Sarah Sanders is currently the White House Press Secretary. This is a role that she has chosen voluntarily. In this role she has time and again repeated and defended the many lies of President Trump, most recently the lie that separating children at the border was a law for which the Democrats were responsible, when in fact it was a policy decision by the White House.

Sarah Sanders was asked by the owner of the Red Hen to leave. She was at the restaurant as a private citizen and not on any government business. She then used her official United States government account to complain about her treatment. The official account has over three million followers and is supposed to be used for White House communications. Using it to complain about how she was treated personally therefore constitutes a clear abuse of government power. She could and should have used her personal account, which, by the ways, has over two hundred thousand followers, so it’s not like she wouldn’t be heard.

It is completely perplexing to me how people think that they can be associated with the administration and not have any personal responsibility. On Twitter someone actually rolled out a version of the “she is just doing her job” defense. I don’t think I need to provide the historical context for why that should not be allowed to stand. She has actively chosen to do this. And continues to do so every day that she remains the Press Secretary. Just to be clear: the same has been true for anybody working in any prior administration. It is a voluntary action and hence comes with personal responsibility.

A business should be perfectly free to not provide service to someone on the basis of the actions they have taken. The “No shirt, no shoes, no service” sign at businesses in beach towns is perfect example of this. As is the case of my asking someone to leave our office years ago after being incredibly rude to one of our assistants. Not wearing shoes, making rude remarks, acting as the Press Secretary, these are personal actions that can and should form the basis for a legitimate decision not to do business with somebody. It is crucial to note that this is not discrimination based on beliefs, e.g. being a Republican, but entirely based on actions.

And because several people have brought it up: this is also different from discriminating on the basis of someone’s identity, such as the color of their skin. Now there is not necessarily a bright line at all times between actions, beliefs and identity. For instance, I tend to be critical of some action resulting from religious beliefs and think people have some personal responsibility in those matters, but I also recognize that a lot of people see their faith as an integral part of their identity. Quite clearly being Press Secretary is not part of Sarah Sanders’s deep personal and difficult/impossible to change identity. That is an action she has chosen.

So in summary: Your actions should have personal consequences (that, by the way, is the meaning of “skin in the game”). Being ejected from a restaurant is one of those possible consequences. And using an official government account (instead of a personal one) to complain about such consequences constitutes an abuse of government power.

If you feel the same way about this as I do, I encourage you to support the Red Hen by purchasing a gift certificate.