Politics of speaking puts bartenders on the edge in Trump’s Washington, D.C.

dEke Dunne moves to Washington, DC Beginning in 2008 in Wyoming. Despite being a progressive man, he was a legislative aide to Republican Senator Mike Enzi and spent many nights in local watering holes, largely costing $10 pitchers and eating wings with wrestling staff on both sides of the aisle. Long before he began to start under the moonlight as a bartender, he learned that talking about politics at DC bars is always the secret to disaster.

“When I used to work in politics, I would spend a lot of time in the bars near Capitol Hill,” Dunn said.

Today, Dunne is one of the most influential bartenders in Washington, D.C., who gave up politics nearly a decade ago. Dunn said in a city that is more ideologically divided than ever before, and he said he now works more diplomatic behind bars than politically.

According to Dunn, there is always an unspoken rule among Washington, D.C. bartenders, and political conversations in bartenders should be avoided at all costs. It is generally believed that maintaining neutrality is crucial to ensure that all politically persuasive guests are welcomed. but Partisan hatred Early in Washington Donald TrumpThe President’s Encore creates obvious tensions in the hotel space, putting inappropriate pressure on staff to manage the atmosphere.

“In DC, every four to eight years, you get a whole new person from a different political ideology, and if you want to have a strong, viable cause, you don’t say politics, and that’s a recognized fact,” Dunne said. “Trump broke that rule.”

According to local lawyer professionals in the U.S. capital, the “inclination” part of bartending has never been more challenging. “Politics in Washington, D.C. is not only a matter of concern to many people, but also a livelihood for a lot of people,” said bar industry veteran Zac Hoffman. “When you talk about work, you’re talking about politics. It’s just the reality of what we live in. It’s a small corporate town.”

In Dunne’s allegorical overseeing the beverage program, the bar has been taking a progressive approach, occasionally inspiring more conservative guests who stayed in Eaton, the Eaton where the bar opened seven years ago, boutique hotels and cultural centers. Its aesthetics and cocktail menu reimagines Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland, but has a young Ruby Bridges, the iconic civil rights activist who faces a mob of ridicule when she cancels a little rock elementary school.

“Our presence as a mission-based bar has sparked a lot of conversations around our concepts, but gender-neutral bathrooms, provocative arts and advocacy,” he said. “Our people are obviously uncomfortable with our concepts taking a break and then make negative comments, but frame other things.”

Today, the recovery of conservatism that dominates Washington’s political arena, often a keen brand, with many progressive bar owners in the city on the brink. In the green area is Adams Morgan’s Middle Eastern cocktail bar on the north side of the city, and politics has been an integral part of the bar’s identity since it opened in 2018.

But since Trump returned to office, he admitted to downplaying some of the comments. “We changed the name of one of our most notorious cocktails [which contained an incendiary reference to the current president]”Frank said. “This killed me, I can’t always say everything I want to say, but ultimately it’s the safety and well-being of my staff [are] More important than this. ”

Although the city may be under Republican rule at the moment, DC itself remains the vast majority of liberals (Kamala Harris) Win more than 90% of the votes In the 2024 election), this means that most of its hotel workers are free as well. “I know some bartenders would say the opposite of what clients do with clients who they disagree politically,” Hoffman said. “There are a lot of socialists talking to Republicans about shit about liberals.”

It is not only a more progressive place around town. After recent articles New York Times and Washington Post With it, it was followed by the advocacy of the upscale Capitol Hill Bistro Butterworth as a safe haven for magazine sympathizers. Like Dunne, he left his political career in the hotel – seen as pro-Trump, attracting the fledgling restaurant that opened last fall, according to chef and co-owner Bart Hutchins. But this also brings some unnecessary operational challenges. First, a serial provoker with air conditioning usually disturbs his weekly dinner service through the front entrance, usually multiple times a week.

Although Butterworth is a shelter for high-profile Trump supporters such as Steve Bannon, every political conversation at the bar is peaceful. “I’ve broken up at least three political arguments since opening up,” Hutchins said. “Always start from a real, insisting everyone agrees with them, a person who watches too much cable news is truly determined to have a Sean Hannity or Rachel McDonald moment.”

Another unfortunate byproduct is the fact that it is known as the right-leaning restaurant in the left-leaning town, which is difficult to hire and retain personnel, Hutchins said. “Sometimes it’s really hard to hire people,” he said. “Early, we had some servers who chose themselves and said, ‘I don’t want to serve these people.’ But a lot of people keep moving forward.”

Over time, staff have found ways to place political beliefs on the interests of the restaurant. “The rule 1 written on the door behind us is: ‘Everyone is a VIP,'” Hutchins said. “We are not interested in using politics as a measure device to make someone deserve great service.”

For DC Bar, proximity to Capitol Hill historically increases the possibility of internal dialogue surrounding politics. While some bars on the hill may welcome these vibrant conversations, many older old bars prefer customers to leave their parade parties at the door.

Tune Inn, a beloved diving bar, originally opened several blocks from the Capitol in 1947, discourages any form of political conversation. “You can always tell newbies because they want to come in and start talking about politics right away,” said Stephanie Hulbert. “They were shut down very quickly.”

To maintain peace and maintain nonpartisan etiquette in the bar, she and her staff regularly intervene and caution guests to maintain their politics. According to Herbert, these interventions are conducted at least two to three times a week, which is why the TV in the bar is deliberately set up as a sports channel rather than a news outlet. “I’ll argue with you all day about movement,” she said. “But I won’t argue about politics.”

Despite the increased anxiety in Washington, Dunn is optimistic, with more conducting healthy conversations at bars including allegoricals that can influence positive changes. In January, Trump’s inauguration attracted conservative revelers to Eaton, where inclusion and multiculturalism are crucial to its brand and mission. This led to some uncomfortable conversations with Republican customers about bar progressive spirit.

“I don’t know how effective the dialogue is, but they are constructive,” he said. “We found a middle ground on the facts about Ruby. [Bridges] The experience is tragic. This is a common thing you no longer find here. ”