WASHINGTON – White House press secretary Sarah Sanders will get Secret Service protection after she was asked to leave a restaurant in southern Virginia in protest of President Donald Trump’s policies, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The source did not provide details. The Secret Service declined to confirm the matter, as did the White House.
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NBC News, which first reported Sanders would get protection, said security would be provided at her home on a temporary basis, citing a law enforcement official.
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Sanders was asked to leave the Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia, on Friday because she worked for Trump. The owner later confirmed the reasoning to media, and the incident drew praise and condemnation online for the restaurant.
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The incident prompted Twitter attacks from the president on Monday.
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Trump lashed out at Democratic U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, who told a crowd in California on Sunday that the Red Hen’s actions should be a model for resisting the president’s administration.
Tensions have risen over the Republican president’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that initially led to migrant children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.