A music store owner in Willoughby, Ohio is facing heat over his “polite” request for Trump supporters to take their business somewhere else.

WKYC reports:

Joe’s Music in Willoughby pinned an open letter to supporters of President Trump asking them to shop elsewhere. In the letter, the owner describes that accepting business from “Trump sympathizers” makes him feel ” unclean and dirty.” The letter goes on to say, ” I would rather starve and close the store than participate in wrong-doing.”

Read the full letter below:

Willoughby music store, Joe's Music, posts on Facebook that it will no longer do business with Trump supporters. "Sorry, I would rather starve and close the store than participate in wrong-doing [sic]." Post has garnered 100+ comments in three hours. pic.twitter.com/5JqXDlVAHq — Jordan Vandenberge (@NEWSjordanv) February 19, 2019

Cleveland’s Fox 8 did a follow-up story on the backlash. Joe says he has received death threats and messages of support as a result of posting the note:

Joe said the sign he put up Tuesday to express himself, similar to the assertive way the President often makes his beliefs known, was a mistake. “He’s a very verbal person and doesn’t hold back any punches and so, therefore, in the spirit of that, I’ve kind of expressed myself accidentally in the same voice that he uses,” explained Joe. Willoughby Police have increased patrols near the business. While FOX 8 crews were present the store the owner was on the phone with the FBI about his concerns. It’s not clear if the sign will be taken down in the near future.

The store owner provided a written statement to the news station which read, in part:

I espouse many conservative values such as only spending what you have earned. No one is vetted at the door. No one has been refused service nor was that my intention nor wording. My statement never said I would refuse service. I am truly sorry to the Trump supporters that I have hurt. I made the mistake of being insensitive to your feelings. I didn’t realize how much this hurt you. To trample people who support President Trump is cruel and mean, I am apologetic.

I think most Trump supporters would agree that it’s a free country and Joe is well within his rights to post the sign, and to not like President Trump.

The problem I always have when I read stories like this is wondering why anyone who is in business for themselves would think this makes good business sense?

Think about this way: When you walk into a store, do you immediately announce your support for certain politicians?

Outside of someone wearing a t-shirt or a hat that openly displays the name and/or logo of their favorite politician, most people don’t talk about politics unless they are around friends or family.

In other words, odds are that the vast majority of his Trump-supporting customers were people whose politics Joe never knew. How many of those customers has he lost because of what he did? How many new customers has he lost?

One could argue that people like Joe are in the right to put principles over profits, but that misses the point. What the issue is about is how out of hand people (leftists especially) have gotten when it comes to the the desire to inject politics into every single facet of our daily lives.

It’s nuts, and people are getting fed up with it.

Sometimes a music lesson is just a music lesson, a cup of coffee is just a cup of coffee, and a chicken sandwich is just a chicken sandwich.

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—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–