Margie’s Bakery’s MAGA Hat Cookies Led To Wave Of Criticism Online, Manager Says

The bakers at Margie’s Bakery & Deli in Wichita Falls, Texas discovered how triggering – and uniting – the phrase “Make America Great Again” is after making cookies decorated to look like “MAGA” hats.

The MAGA hat cookies originated as a custom order, general manager and owner’s son-in-law Andrew Morrow told the Daily Caller on Monday. When they baked a few more than needed, they put the extra cookies out for sale, posting a picture on their Facebook page June 18. The post has since been deleted.

“The [MAGA] hat wasn’t a big deal this year,” Morrow told the Caller. “We were just making a reference back to 2016. We even in the post said ‘Make – lower case “m” capital “A” – mArgie’s Great Again’ as a joke. We put a little laughy face on there.”

Within a few hours, the Facebook post was on a global baking page, Morrow told the Caller. In 30 minutes, Margie’s received over 1,000 negative one-star reviews, he alleged. Margie’s post was online for six or seven hours before they had to take it down, Morrow said. Morrow alleged that he had to block and delete hundreds of fake reviews.

Morrow alleged to the Daily Caller that Margie’s Facebook account received death threats and allegations that the owner was a rapist, that they rape their customers, that the workers are molesters, that they served a product with feces and that they came to a customer’s house and pooped on their property. He further alleged to the Caller that their family members were also attacked online.

“They figured out who my mom was somehow, figured out what business she worked at, and went to their pages and started attacking them as well — [posting] reviews you can’t remove,” Morrow alleged.

Facebook would not remove the abusive reviews Margie’s allegedly received, Morrow told the Caller, and only recommended blocking the individual users. Yelp and Google removed Margie’s allegedly abusive reviews as of Wednesday, he added.

“I was panicking, ’cause I was like, our longstanding, 50-year reputation of 4.9 out of 5 stars forever was gone like that,” Morrow told the Caller. “It went down to 3.9 in 30 minutes. There was harm done to our business because of false allegations, but there’s no repercussions to them,” he alleged. “The reviews still don’t get taken down even though they’re false.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Vast Majority Of Small Business Owners Worried Biden’s Economy Will Force Them To Close)

“We’re still having to occasionally block and report some people,” he told the Daily Caller, referencing their Facebook account.

“They’re trying to make us something that we’re not,” owner Michael Gerstner told the Caller. “We’re the exact opposite. We’re inclusive. We’re tolerant. We will accept any cookie order that they want that we deem that is not degrading or pornographic. But we will do it and have no problem serving our guests.”

Margie’s offered a tie-dye rainbow cookie in June, but it was so disregarded that trays had to be thrown out, Morrow told Daily Caller. The store met with no opposition, nasty remarks or canceling, he added.

“We posted [online] about them too, but we didn’t get any flak for it,” Morrow said. “The only time we would sell it was if a kid saw it … No one said anything about it.”

Good or bad, it was the post about the hat cookies that got everyone’s attention online, they told the Caller.

“Everything we’re accused of doing is what’s being done to us from people who hate Trump or … hate the phrase ‘Make America Great Again,'” Morrow told the Daily Caller, “which I think is so funny because Trump or no Trump, I feel like that should be everybody’s goal.”

When Morrow and Gerstner were asked how they felt about the right to refuse business, they said every business should have the right to draw the line at the owner’s discretion. (RELATED: Court Rules Against Masterpiece Cakeshop Owner Who Refused To Bake Gender Transition Cake)

“If somebody were to come in with a request to make a swastika cake, we would not make that,” Morrow told the Caller. “Putting ‘Make America Great Again’ on a hat is nowhere near close to that even though we were accused of being equivalent to that. … There’s no equivalent to me when it comes to a red baseball cap with the words Make America Great Again and a Nazi cap or the swastika symbol.” (RELATED: VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The Hysterical Style In American Politics)

“I’m getting tired of being pushed around with what I can and can’t do in my own business, especially from people in Washington and California,” Gerstner told the Caller. “It’s the minority trying to push it on the majority. They act with a big voice hiding behind keyboards to trash you and make it a big issue — which they did make it a big issue, so thank you!”

Wichita Falls was quick to respond to the national backlash attacking the 54-year-old bakery and deli founded by Gerstner’s grandparents, he and Morrow told the Daily Caller.

“I’ve never seen Wichita Falls be so united over something,” Morrow said, noting that support to Margie’s was instant, regardless of the people being Trump supporters or not. Locals were angry that Margie’s felt forced to remove a post, he told the Caller.

“Most people are fighting just for our freedom to have free speech and the right to do any cookie. Not just this cookie — any cookie,” Gerstner told the Caller. “The reason we’re pushing on is because our supporters came out for us. … it makes me a little prouder of what we’re doing. We’re pushing back. We just want to make cookies.” (RELATED: Congressional Report Details ‘Pervasive Degradation’ Of First Amendment Rights On College Campuses)

Margie’s is now racing the clock to keep up with orders. Normally only closed on Sundays, Margie’s’ increased demand not only for MAGA hat cookies but all products necessitated staying closed Monday to catch up with baking 2,500 products to restock their completely cleaned-out shelves.

“I’ve been doing this for 39 years. Never have I had to do this,” Gerstner told Daily Caller. Last week, the bakery sold 6,000 MAGA hat cookies, Gerstner said.

The bakers of Margie’s are working 16 hour days to keep up with the demand, the Daily Caller has learned.

“We have hundreds of people walking in going, ‘where are they at?'” Morrow said of the MAGA cookies.

“Nobody outside of Texas would know about us except for this [backlash],” Gerstner said. “We’re having people drive from Oklahoma, El Paso — everywhere. People are driving from hours away, and you don’t want to disappoint ’em.”

Because Margie’s ingredients involve no preservatives, they cannot ship their products, the Caller has learned. But Margie’s can promise that orders placed in advance will be guaranteed for pickup. For those too far away to travel, Morrow noted, Margie’s will be offering in July “Margie’s support hats,” red baseball caps embroidered in white that says “Make Margie’s Great Again: Wichita Falls, Texas.”

“Had it just been positive response and positive only, … there wouldn’t have been this massive demand,” Morrow told the Daily Caller. “It was because we started getting extreme backlash and hatred for it and threats and allegations that its popularity shot through the roof. Had there not been a poor response, we wouldn’t be here, closed, trying to catch up.” (RELATED: Small Business Owners Trust Republicans To Help Them Amid Recession Fears: POLL)

Though unable to repost the original June 18 post, Margie’s posted Tuesday, “haters hate. Bakers bake.”

“If bad reviews and backlash is what we’re gonna get, our town is here for us and they’ve shown it,” Morrow said. “We’re not going to back down because of extreme hatred and threats and things like that. … I think these past few days have showed what happens when the majority who do love you do speak up. It was very heartwarming and empowering.”