I’m a South Austinite since 1985, been eating at @kerbeylanecafe since I got here, and I have NEVER seen them do something this short-sighted and thoughtless to their customers: 
That’s Kerbey Lane’s CEO Mason Ayer, giving a warm and obsequious shout-out to Chip Roy, the GOP trainwreck of a Congressman who has united Austin's TX-21 residents in a two-year effort to remove him from office.
A quick refresher on Chip’s legislative record: he blocked federal disaster aid for the sake of a photo op, voted against the Violence Against Women Act, ranted that big pharma CEOs should “make a lot more money,” and spreads Russian disinformation. whoischiproy.com
We understand that small businesses need help right now, and are grateful to get it. But by kissing Chip’s butt in front of a Kerbey Lane sign, Mason Ayer has just told every Austinite loud and clear that his restaurant doesn't care about the progressive values we cherish here.
When two Muslim women were assaulted at the Guadalupe Kerbey Lane location in 2015, CEO Mason Ayer said “there’s no room for racist, Islamophobic, or xenophobic comments” at Kerbey Lane. LOL, Mason, I have some bad news for you about Chip's Twitter feed. austinchronicle.com/daily/news/201…
Here’s Chip and his Chief of Staff smearing a Muslim Congresswoman:
Chip also spreads transphobic hate. Why on earth is @kerbeylanecafe thanking this man for anything? Your CEO said "racism and intolerance are unacceptable in any context." This is intolerance. IT GETS PEOPLE KILLED. You aren't merely accepting it, you're THANKING Chip for it.
Chip also spreads anti-Semitic conspiracy theories:
He has approvingly shared replies on Twitter calling ACA recipients “lazy bitches”:
He's made it abundantly clear he opposes criminal justice reform, and he mocks #BlackLivesMatter protesters.
He's on record repeatedly insulting Austin residents, Austin leaders, and Austin values (keep in mind, Chip doesn't live in Austin--he doesn't even live IN THE DISTRICT HE REPRESENTS)
He flounced out of his own townhall because constituents asked him to talk about #TX21 issues rather than railing against Nancy Pelosi. He said those constituents "do not represent #Tx21 in the slightest." kvue.com/article/news/r…
#TX21 residents are reasonable people, and they don’t appreciate being abused by their elected Representative. So they’ve organized via @TX21Indivisible to work against Chip’s re-election. His response was to call us terrorists:
Chip's a skunk, as you’d expect Ted Cruz’s apprentice to be. His sudden pivot to “bipartisanship” & getting-things-done-for-Austin? You can thank @wendydavis for that. She's running against Chip--and polling guru @RachelBitecofer says she's beating him.
But unfortunately for Chip, his claims to bipartisanship ring a little offkey. Because he's left his hyper-partisan receipts all over Twitter.
Chip is scared. As he should be. He's spent his entire term vilifying progressives & progressive values. He now has 5 short months to convince voters he didn’t really mean what he said. He wants us to forgive him & sign up for more. And @kerbeylanecafe wants to help him?
Look, #TX21 voters want Kerbey Lane to survive and thrive—which means we want Kerbey Lane employees to have healthcare & a living wage. We want patrons, & everyone, to be free of racism, transphobia, homophobia, & hate. We won’t have any of those things if Chip Roy is re-elected.
So, @kerbeylanecafe, please think a little harder next time you decide to play scratch-my-back with the friendly Congressman who says such nice things about your pancakes. You might save yourself from directly contradicting your own stated values, and those of your patrons.
You can show your support for Austin values of compassion, equity, nonviolence, and inclusiveness by supporting @wendydavis wendydavisforcongress.com. And by avoiding @kerbeylanecafe
UPDATE: No response from @kerbeylanecafe, but Chip seems to have deleted the original tweet. Profiles in Courage all the way around there, guys.
I'm hearing from people who have called Kerbey Lane that staff there insist they know nothing about any of this. Maybe Mason Ayer is going to try to memory hole the video. We won't forget it.
Hell, I still remember the names my 23-year-old son gave to every fish in the fish tank at the back of the old South Lamar Kerbey Lane when he was a toddler. Austinites have long memories.
Some Chip fan at Townhall posted a write-up of the @kerbeylanecafe video with a partial transcript. Here's a link and screenshots: outline.com/JAhuSr
Can I just say that making me play detective to prove that *I* wasn't lying about Mason's original bad decision is compounding my disgust with the whole KL organization? Could you just admit you made a mistake, folks?
But of course, if you like Chip Roy and what he stands for, you can't admit mistakes. #TX21
