WASHINGTON, D.C. — Brenden Nillsworth, Assistant to the Secretary of the Deputy Assistant to the Director of the Office of Presidential Correspondence, sat by himself in a corner booth Saturday afternoon seething. Nillsworth had been at the Denny’s, just a few miles from the White House, for nearly thirty minutes but the manager had yet to ask him to leave.
“I don’t understand it,” Nillsworth said in a Tweet, “I work for Trump and I lie to people all day long too. But I guess you have to be cabinet level to get booted from a place.”
Nillsworth was referring to an incident that occurred involving Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. On Friday, May 22, 2018, Sanders was asked to leave the Red Hen restaurant In Lexington, VA. The owner of the eatery said that she refused service to Sanders because Sanders works for President Donald Trump.
The office in which Nillsworth works is responsible for answering letters, emails, and phone calls that come into the White House from the general public.
“Sarah and I basically have the same job,” Nillsworth ranted on his blog, “She answers questions from the press about the President. I answer questions from the American people directly. We both pretend to speak for the President and most of what we say is total [EXPLETIVE REMOVED]!”
After news of the Red Hen incident broke, Nillsworth reportedly told everyone with whom he came in contact that it was going to be tough for him to get served now too. He immediately clipped his government ID badge to his shirt and went to a Mexican restaurant nearby. He spent several fruitless minutes asking waitstaff and the bartender if they, “heard about those kids down in Texas,” then he left. He made stops at several restaurants over the next two hours and at each one he ate and drank in peace.
Finally, he ended up at the Denny’s on Bladensburg Rd. NE. The manager, Bill Fendelson, said that Nilssworth insisted on sitting in a large corner booth even though he was alone. Nillsworth spent the next several minutes tapping his ID badge every time someone came near him.
According to Gladys Firth, Nillsworth’s server, when she asked if he was ready to order, Nillsworth replied, “You know, I work at the White House for Trump.”
“I told him that was lovely and that I would give him a few more minutes,” Firth said.
Firth attempted to take Nillsworth’s order several more times, only to receive similar responses. After more than an hour, Fendelson informed Nillsworth that since he did not order anything, he would have to leave.
When reached for comment, Nillsworth said, “As a prominent member of the President’s communications staff, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before I would get the Huckabee Sanders treatment too.”