California cafe owner trolled liberals by claiming cafe sale would support Trump's third term

A woman who was at the Jan. 6, 2021, protests at the U.S. Capitol said she plans to give the money she raised selling the café to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's campaign after originally saying she was giving the money in support of Trump's campaign for a third term. 

Maria Rutenberg's Redwood City’s Chez Nous was a gathering place for conservatives and Trump supporters since the pandemic, SFGATE reported. The café had faced a boycott from locals in the liberal-rich town of Redwood City, and according to Redwood City Pulse, the boycott partially motivated the sale. She had told Pulse that she intended the sale to help fund Trump's third term. 

In an Aug. 18 Facebook post, she said she was trolling liberals with her claim she was planning to fund Trump's third term. 

"At this point, TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome] may be the only condition where the symptoms include losing both your sense of humor and your ability to detect obvious trolling," the post stated. 

Rutenberg's trolling may now have switched to conservatives. When SFGATE asked Rutenberg to explain the Facebook post, she said that she changed her position after learning that the president saw no way around the law against third terms. She said she had decided instead to send the money to Mamdani. 

“Because Trump is not running and I am disappointed," she said. 

Chez Nous opened at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and faced an immediate backlash for not enforcing lockdown orders and mask mandates. Rutenberg said they had to keep the curtains shut to avoid fines and penalties for staying open. She said her café welcomed everyone, including the "left right or perpetually confused."