Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot condemned a Windy City restaurant worker who allegedly spat on Eric Trump at a cocktail lounge on Tuesday night.
The Democrat said during a press conference Thursday that the episode was “repugnant” and that “no one deserves that.” She said it was “very gracious” of Eric Trump not to press charges for the incident that happened at The Aviary, a cocktail bar.
President Donald Trump’s third child told conservative site Breitbart News that the incident was “purely a disgusting act by somebody who clearly has emotional problems.”
Lightfoot has since spoken with Eric Trump and “checked in with him about what had happened,” she said Thursday.
Lightfoot used the incident to call out partisan divides exacerbated by the Trump presidency. Pushing for respect across political differences during the press conference, she said that “civility matters.”
“I don’t agree with a lot of things that President Trump stands for. Our values are different. But you cross the line when you assault someone. You absolutely cross the line when you intentionally target someone for that kind of treatment,” Lightfoot said Thursday.
The employee involved in the incident has not yet been spoken to, but has been placed on leave by its human resources team, The Aviary said in a statement Wednesday.
“We did not witness the incident and we are just beginning to learn the details. What is certain is this: no customer should ever be spit upon,” The Aviary said.
Eric Trump said Secret Service took the employee into custody after the incident. A United States Secret Service spokesperson declined to comment to CNN and did not respond to inquiries on whether charges had been filed.
The Chicago Police Department was on the scene and assisted Secret Service, per CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
“CPD was on scene and assisting the United States Secret Service with a law enforcement matter. Any and all inquiries regarding a federal protectee must be directed to the Secret Service,” Guglielmitweeted.
While this is the first such reported incident targeting Eric Trump, members of the Trump administration have previously faced confrontations at the dinner table. Press secretary Sarah Sanders was asked to leavea Lexington, Virginia, restaurant last June. And then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was heckled by protestersas she dined at a Mexican restaurant near the White House.
