A disabled woman driving near Asheville, NC was involved in a minor fender-bender with a truck that left her Toyota Camry with a little damage, but unable to start. She called a towing company to get her back to her home in Travelers Rest, SC. When the tow truck arrived, though, the driver refused to tow her because she was a Bernie Sanders supporter. Why? You know, God told him to.
The woman, Cassandra McWade, suffers from chronic conditions, including psoriatic arthritis, fibromyalgia, and Crohn’s Disease, has a handicap placard hanging from her rear-view mirror and several Bernie Sanders-related bumper stickers and signs on the rear of her car. It was the Bernie Sanders signs that most affected Ken Shupe, owner of Shupee Max Towing, and his pal God, who, according to what Shupe told the Washington Times:
“I think the Lord came to me, and he just said ‘Get in the truck and leave.’ And when I got in my truck, you know, I was so proud.”
Yes, so proud. God must be so proud of you for leaving a person who needed help on the side of the road. God loves it when people refuse to do their jobs and impairs the safety of people because of political disagreements. He totally gets off on that shit.
Shupe told McWade that he was unable to tow her car because she was “obviously a socialist,” and helpfully suggested that she “call the government” for a tow. I guess you just call the front desk at the Department of Transportation for that?
Shupe identifies as a Trump supporter, and of course he has every right to dislike Bernie Sanders and any policies he espouses. In fact, legally, he has every right to do what he did; political affiliation is not a protected class, so if he wants to refuse service based on that, he’s breaking no laws, according to attorneys contacted by Fox News.
But that doesn’t mean that Shupe is not a colossal asshole.
Shupe defended his decision by citing recent business dealings, just in case the Voice of God he heard wasn’t enough to get you on his side:
“Every business dealing in recent history that I’ve had with a socialist-minded person, I haven’t got paid,” Shupe told the station.
He added: “Every time I’ve dealt with these people in recent history, I get ‘Berned.’
“With an ‘e,’ not a ‘u.’ ”
Of course, it didn’t matter that he had zero evidence to suggest that this person he was coming out to tow would burn or Bern him. Also, I’m sure this sort of thing has happened on both sides of the political spectrum, and the stranded motorist, McWade, has probably the best thing to say on the matter:
“You don’t have to agree on anything, just to be kind to one another.”
Seriously. You’re a tow truck driver, dude. Tow the car. You don’t have to marry them, or run a school board together. It’s business. You had one job to do, and that was not to leave your customer on the side of the freaking road. In November, you can vote as hard and vigorously for Trump as you want. Today, do your damn job.
I mean, a black lawyers have defended Klansmen in court. If that can happen, a tow truck driver who supports Trump can surely tow a Bernie supporter to safety.