Wisconsin restaurant owner takes stage at Trump rally, misrepresents her business doing worse under Biden

On Wednesday, vegan restaurant owner Shana Gray joined former President Donald Trump on stage for his rally in Waukesha, Wis., where they claimed that her restaurant, which opened in 2023, did better when Trump was in office.

FIfteen minutes into Trump’s 78-minute rally, he explained that Gray’s business has been struggling under Joe Biden’s administration and that she was “doing better” during the Trump years.

“Shana says her business is being brutalized by the soaring cost of food,” Trump said on stage. “She’s never seen anything like it. And right now, she says things just aren’t working. She was doing great three-and-a-half years ago, she was doing better than she ever did. ‘During the Trump years,’ she said, ‘I was able to afford things. I wasn’t worried about my future. I am now.’”

According to an interview Gray did with Urban Milwaukee in 2023, Gray claimed she started her restaurant with her fiancé Andren Jett as a pop-up before officially opening last August. However, Gray Jett Enterprises was reportedly founded in November 2021, ten months after Trump left office. Gray’s restaurant has also been dinged for several health inspection violations since it opened in August.

After Trump introduced Gray, she did not dispute his claims that her business struggled under Biden.

“As we spoke before, it is very important that we change what is going on now,” Gray said. “None of us can continue to go with the Biden administration. We definitely need to make this house party over. We need Trump in 2024, so make sure you vote Trump 2024.”

Gray did not respond to a request for a comment by press time.

The latest polling has Trump and Biden virtually tied with the presidential election six months away.