Trump supporters flood Canada's Trump Sandwich artist with bad reviews
CBC News | Posted: August 18, 2016 3:28 PM | Last Updated: August 18, 2016
Some posting 'hostile and rude' comments, sandwich shop owner says
The Canadian sandwich artist behind the Trump Sandwich — two slices of white bread, full of baloney — is being bombarded with bad reviews on his Facebook page as angry Trump supporters mobilize an online counterattack.
The Trump Sandwich, which mocks Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, comes with a side of Russian dressing and a tiny pickle, all surrounded by "a wall of Mexican chips."
"It's not a typical menu item. It's truly a joke. I saw the idea online. I just tinkered with it a little," Windsor Sandwich Shop owner Lawrence Lavender said. "All the ingredients tie into his campaign, especially the baloney."
Lavender believes "80 per cent of what [Trump] says is lies."
Within hours of CBC Windsor posting Lavender's story, his Windsor, Ont., deli racked up 43 one-star reviews on its Facebook page alone.
"I have friends on Facebook who are actually Trump supporters and who found it funny," Lavender said. "Unfortunately, there are some people out there who have been pretty hostile and rude. Some people have been very vulgar and inappropriate."
Most of the comments are too offensive to publish here. Some of them attack the LGBTQ community while others make light of the Holocaust.
Reviews are being posted by people who list their hometowns in states like Texas and Arizona.
"You live in South Texas — I'm sure you were in for lunch today," Lavender said sarcastically. "It's childish and silly."
'Review from internet troll'
He's resorted to replying to each of the fake Facebook reviews with a single statement: "Another fake review from someone who has never been here."
Lavender, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen who intends to vote in Florida in the upcoming presidential election, said bad reviews are also showing up on other sites, too.
Over on Google, the one-star reviews are flooding in.
"Fake review from internet troll," is Lavender's response on that site, where seven of 48 reviews are five-star and 41 are one- or two-star reviews posted in the past 24 hours.
"I wasn't really expecting it to blow up the way it has and been seen by as many people as it has. I just thought it'd be funny and cute and get a few shares … and people would get a good laugh out of it," Lavender said. "I wasn't trying to make a serious statement."