South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said he would go to “war” with the state of New York should Albany legislators pass a bill to force some Empire State Chick-fil-A’s to operate seven days a week.
The iconic southern chicken chain has long been closed on Sundays, in keeping with the religious beliefs of its original Christian founder, S. Truett Cathy.
“This is war,” Graham posted to X in response to an article about the bill. “If this goes forward, I will be introducing legislation withholding federal funds from any city or state that requires @ChickfilA to stay open on Sunday.”
“The founders of Chick-fil-A made a decision early on to close on Sunday, consistent with their faith. For any government to try to reverse this decision flies in the face of who we are as Americans. Chick-fil-A is a great company with thousands of locations serving the public with a quality product and taking care of their employees. New York is off base and their actions will not go unanswered,” Graham added.
The New York State Assembly bill filed last week would require Chick-fil-A, and other food vendors, operating at rest stops owned by the State Thruway Authority to be open seven days a week.
The fast-food chain was called out by name in the justification section of the proposed law.
“While there is nothing objectionable about a fast food restaurant closing on a particular day of the week, service areas dedicated to travelers is an inappropriate location for such a restaurant. Publicly owned service areas should use their space to maximally benefit the public,” the bill reads.
Manhattan Assemblyman Tony Simone, who sponsored the bill, said he had no beef with the chicken chain — and was purely thinking about the best interests of the state.
“You know, we get hungry when we’re traveling. We may not like our brother-in-law or sister-in-law’s cooking and wanna get a snack on Christmas Eve,” Simone told ABC8. “To find one of the restaurants closed on the Thruway is just not in the public good.”
Load more…
{{/isDisplay}}{{#isAniviewVideo}}
{{/isAniviewVideo}}{{#isSRVideo}}
{{/isSRVideo}}
