Pro-Hillary picketer: Mike Huckabee got me fired Nick Juliano

Published: Monday April 28, 2008



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Print This Email This Does Mike Huckabee want to be John McCain's running mate so badly that he would pull some strings to have a young woman fired from her job for having the temerity to hold up a Hillary Clinton sign as the GOP nominee landed in Little Rock? Micah Qualls's seven-year stint as a waitress at a diner in the Little Rock airport came to an end last Friday, and she says the former Arkansas governor is to blame. The story began that morning as McCain's flight was landing in Little Rock with Huckabee waiting to greet him on the tarmac. There were few customers in the Central Flying Service restaurant where Qualls worked, so she took a break, went to get a "Hillary for President" sign from the trunk of her car and stood with it along the fence a little ways away from where McCain was de-boarding. Qualls called it a "simple act of patriotism" and a unique opportunity for someone whose politically minded, like she is, to express her viewpoint. "I want them to be reminded every single time they're anywhere that people have different views," Qualls told RAW STORY in an interview Monday. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do, express yourself?" It seemed the small exercise in free speech would end there with little fanfare. As soon as McCain and his entourage had left the runway, Qualls returned to work and began working the growing lunch rush. But by the time her shift ended, she was out of a job. Qualls' boss, Dick Holbert, said the decision to fire her was his alone, and Huckabee has denied involvement, but the former waitress said the circumstances of her dismissal don't support their stories. "I have no qualms about telling that Huckabee is boldface lying, the owner of my company is boldfaced lying," she said. Huckabee's denial came in the form of a phone call to Arkansas Times reporter Max Brantley. Got a call at home tonight (Friday) from former Gov. Mike Huckabee. Yes, really. I did. It was a cordial call. But he wanted to say 1) he had not seen the young woman with the sign at Central Flying 2) he'd made no complaint to anyone about her presence because he hadn't seen her 3) any suggestion otherwise was "absolutely unbelievable" (if I read my scrawled notes on a hotel notepad correctly). He said the McCain plane landed at a Central terminal not easily in view of where Micah says she stood. In short, a la Sgt. Schultz, he knows "no-thing." The call itself is unusual because Brantley has been no friend or fan of the former governor, and the two have been "on the outs" since 1991. Qualls says she was in full view of Huckabee and McCain when the GOP candidate landed. A co-worker who was on the tarmac when McCain stepped off the plane told Qualls he said, "Well it looks like we have protesters already," referring to Qualls. The same co-worker overheard Huckabee asking her supervisor, "Isn't that one of the girls from the restaurant?" In this video shot by a Fox News producer, Huckabee and the supervisor are seen chatting before McCain steps off the plane, and McCain seems to glance towards where Qualls is standing. Noise from McCain's plane drowns out much of the conversation between Huckabee and McCain. Qualls also says a friend who works at a nearby hotel was recounting the story of her firing to an acquaintance who knows Huckabee well. The man, who's not being identified because of his long association with the former governor, promply called Huckabee on a cell phone. Huckabee told the man he found the display "completely tasteless" and "disrespectful," Qualls said after speaking to him. Qualls said the man changed his story after speaking to her and has threatened her with legal action for recounting their phone conversation. A local television station reported on Qualls' firing without including the Huckabee angle. Only Brantley at the Arkansas Times, an alternative weekly, has delved into that aspect of the story. Qualls suspects a cover-up. "This is backroom politics and everybody knows everybody," she said. On Saturday, Brantley reported that while Huckabee himself might not have called for Qualls to get the ax, his former campaign manager Chip Saltsman does quite a bit of business with Central Flying and may have intervened on Huckabee's behalf. "All I can think is he believes I'm just some dumb waitress, and he's used to getting away with stuff like this," Qualls said. Qualls' boss, Dick Holbert, provided this statement to KTHV television. "I didn't witness Qualls demonstration. After hearing the details I told the flight deck manager to relieve her. That she was holding a Clinton sign was beside the point. She was on my time wearing my uniform and she spoke loudly and a lot of people noticed." But Qualls said that explanation doesn't sit right with her. If her actions were such an egregious breach of company policy, she asks, why was she allowed to stay for the rest of the shift. "I worked my shift. He came in and sat at table 32 and had catfish and went back [to his office] after lunch," she said. "Obviously he was not in distress over what I had done." According to a search of campaign finance records, Holbert has donated to Little Rock's Democratic members of Congress, and he gave Bill Clinton $1,000 back in 1995. Qualls said employees at her restaurant have appeared in uniform other times at rallies to support political candidates, including John Kerry and Howard Dean when they visited Little Rock. She suspected the threat of lost business was behind her firing. "I guess I'm just naive," she said, "but I thought this just didn't happen to people." This video of McCain's arrival comes from Fox News: