MAGA’s meltdown over Cracker Barrel’s “woke” new logo reached new heights on Thursday when Congressman Byron Donalds slammed the restaurant chain for daring to rebrand after he had a religious experience in one of its Florida parking lots.
“In college, I worked at @CrackerBarrel in Tallahassee,” the Florida Republican wrote on X, “I even gave my life to Christ in their parking lot. Their logo was iconic and their unique restaurants were a fixture of American culture. No one asked for this woke rebrand.”
Cracker Barrel drew the ire of MAGA diehards Tuesday when the company revealed its new logo, sans old-timer in his rocking chair. Some conservatives interpreted the removal of the elder white character as a sign the restaurant chain was going “woke.” Outcry over the perceived slight caused the business’ stock to plunge on Thursday.
The company explained the new simplified logo “anchors Cracker Barrel’s signature gold and brown tones” and makes the image “rooted even more closely to the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all.”
But MAGA leaders have decided the marketing move is an attack on “American culture,” however, with Don Jr. posting to X, “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?” and recirculating a post that blames the change on the chain’s CEO and diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Congressman Donalds joined the chorus on Thursday to rail against the company and suggest that its Americana branding was the perfect backdrop for his Christian awakening. Donalds, who is currently running to replace Ron DeSantis as Florida’s governor, continues to lean hard into every MAGA talking point within reach as he dodges his own scrutiny.
The Daily Beast learned last month that Trump’s endorsement of Donalds has become a point of concern in Republican circles for lack of proper vetting, as he’s known to keep a consultant and “right-hand man” on payroll who was accused of sexually inappropriate behavior multiples times while working as a substitute teacher.
But the Congressman insisted Thursday that the point of focus for MAGA should be fighting the invasion of wokeism, as he wrote to X, “It’s time to Make Cracker Barrel Great Again.”
