Watch: Store Refuses Service Because They “Hate Trump”
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity,
In an incident proving that TDS is still rampant, a Michaels Arts & Crafts store in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, refused to custom-frame a portrait of President Trump, as well as a historic moon landing newspaper, and a religious-themed art print.
Employees told the customer the items were “ineligible” and that the company does not do “political pieces.” One account of the encounter says an employee stated on camera that “Our company hates the President.”
Corporate later insisted no such policy exists. The employees remain on the job. Customers are already shifting business elsewhere and floating simple tests of consistency.
This is not even the first time. In November 2024 a Michaels in Sequim, Washington, declined to frame the well-known photo of Trump raising his fist after the Butler assassination attempt. Employees said they were uncomfortable.
Corporate called it a misunderstanding; a framing manager later apologized and offered to complete the order. The pattern of local staff citing an unwritten ban, followed by corporate denial, has repeated.
A Case Western Reserve University law professor noted in the Cleveland.com piece that a private retailer could “very likely refuse” service on political grounds without violating public-accommodation laws, which typically protect categories such as race and sex rather than viewpoint.
The customer’s complaint focuses more on alleged misrepresentation of the reason for refusal than on a free-speech claim against the company.
Public reaction has been direct. Customers have announced they are moving holiday crafting purchases to Hobby Lobby and other competitors.
This is good to know just in time for the holiday crafting and decorating season. @MichaelsStores I will move my business to @HobbyLobby and others.
— Winsteady (@YolandaWinstea1) October 28, 2026
My wife does a LOT of purchasing crafting items from @MichaelsStores. @HobbyLobby it will be going forwards. Enough with companies doing this crap!
— Steven Askinazi (@Zabman48) October 28, 2026
Others have proposed a straightforward consistency check: bring photographs of Obama or Biden, or newspaper front pages from the George Floyd period, and see whether those items receive the same “political pieces” treatment.
Let’s try an experiment. Need someone to take a picture of Obama as president, a front page of a newspaper the day after the George Floyd stuff or any newspaper front page celebrating the BLM riots to Michaels for frames and let’s just see what happens.
— Landofoz2008 (@Landofoz2075125) October 27, 2026
One reply suggested flooding the specific store with Trump images so the same employees must process them under the company’s stated policy.
Since Michael’s says they will frame political pictures everyone and their brother should bring Trump pictures to this location to be framed by the very person that caused this nonsense. She thinks she has TDS now make her frame 100s of pics of Trump.
— Stacy Kilpatrick (@StacyKilpa36627) October 28, 2026
Michaels is owned by Apollo Global Management, which took the company private in 2021. The framing counter is a routine service sold to any customer.
The company has said it will complete the order. Whether the employees who cited a nonexistent policy face any consequence has not been announced.
Source: https://freedombunker.com/2026/10/29/watch-store-refuses-service-because-they-hate-trump/
