Donald Trump has had a rough couple weeks, but if he was hoping to drown his sorrows with a glass of the house beer at Rebar, a restaurant in his Trump Tower in Chicago, things are about going to get worse.
5 Rabbit Cerveceria, the Bedford Park brewery that has been making an exclusive beer for the hotel’s mezzanine-level bar, has cut ties with the resort, the latest in a series of companies that are distancing themselves from the entrepreneur and presidential candidate over his controversial comments about immigrants.
“We would be doing an injustice to the community we serve (and live in) by engaging in business with someone who does not accept our role in society and expresses a rhetoric of hate and ignorance towards us,” Araya said in a statement to Chicago public radio station WBEZ.
5 Rabbit was started in 2011 by Mexican and Costa Rican nationals and was the first Latin-themed craft brewery in the U.S. The business currently has about 50 kegs of the golden ale it had been brewing for Trump’s facility on hand. The brewer will distribute those to more than 30 Chicago bars without a formal name, but the beer is informally being called “(Expletive) tu Pelo,” (“Tu Pelo” means “your hair” in Spanish. You can probably make the connection.)
“We are active members of this immigrant community and we need to stand up for ourselves, and more importantly, for those who do not have the voice or means to do so,” said Araya in a statement. “The very foundation of the United States of America was built on acceptance and inclusion. That is what drew us here, and that’s what why we feel so strongly about this.”
Officials at The Trump Organization did not reply to requests for comment.
The brewery is the latest (and smallest) of several companies that have distanced themselves from Trump since his July 16 speech, which describing migrants from Mexico to the United States as drug-runners and rapists. “(Mexico is) sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us,” he said. “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
The ripple effect has been significant. NBCUniversal canceled plans to air the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants and announced it would not be making additional seasons of Trump’s reality show The Celebrity Apprentice. Univision also announced it would not air Miss USA (which quickly prompted Trump to sue the network for over $500 million).
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim also cancelled a television program he was working on with Trump.
“His statement was totally out of line…working with someone so closed-minded was not going to work,” said Arturo Elias, spokesperson and son-in-law of the world’s second richest man.
Consumers, meanwhile, petitioned Macy’s to drop Trump’s merchandise line, which range from clothing to cologne to spring water. The retailer, on Wednesday, agreed to end the 11-year relationship, pulling all Trump branded merchandise.
In its short history, 5 Rabbit has won several medals from the prestigious Great American Beer Festival.
