President Donald Trump retweeted a video last week showing supporters at Harry’s at the Hotel Harrington cheering police without wearing masks or social distancing. Now DC’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration has issued two separate warnings to the pub, which is a block from the Trump hotel and a favorite hangout of the younger MAGA crowd.
Harry’s received a verbal warning from ABRA inspectors the day after the video was tweeted for insufficient table spacing and insufficient reservation system. (DC’s phase two guidelines require restaurants and bars to have some sort of reservation system.) Three days later, the bar received a written warning for patrons and employees not wearing masks. Harry’s had previously received a verbal warning for insufficient table spacing in early July.
The video shared by Trump show DC police walking through Harry’s to cheers of “back the blue,” applause, and fist-bumps. Almost no one is wearing a mask except for the cops and staff, and groups appear crowded together. There are also multiple patrons stand around the bar, which is currently prohibited.
“For us, it’s more of an after-hours place. After the Trump [hotel] closes, we’ll typically end up there if we’re going to have a late night,” says Republican political consultant and commentator Harlan Hill told Washingtonian back in January. “You’ll see familiar faces: other people who do Fox, some congressmen, but it’s not as common as at the Trump.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
