Baker Who Refused To Back Down over 'Build the Wall' Cookies Is Getting Huge Business Boost
A baker in Washington state recently came under fire from leftists and the perpetually offended for a border wall-related Valentine’s Day cookie he had baked as a joke and placed on display in his small bakery, but now he is pushing back against those critics with a message to “lighten up.”
KING-TV reported last week on the controversy that arose over a heart-shaped frosted cookie which read “Build that Wall” in the display case of the Edmonds Bakery, which is owned and operated by a baker named Ken Bellingham.
The cookie had been spotted by a would-be customer named Ana Carrera — daughter of Mexican immigrants — who took offense to the border wall message on the cookie and posted a photo of it to Facebook, where it went viral and prompted angry messages and threats of a boycott against Bellingham’s business.
“People were just going off,” Bellingham explained to KING at the time. “They don’t know anything about me and supposedly I’m some horrible person.”
In response to the controversy, Bellingham initially issued an apology on Facebook for his “mistake,” and vowed to never make such cookies again.
He told KING that the single cookie had merely been meant as a joke and not a political message, and even said he didn’t necessarily endorse the idea of a border wall, as “I don’t think building a wall will solve our problems.”
“I guess the joke is on me,” he said of the “Build that Wall” cookie. He added, “If I wanted to make a political statement, I’d put it on a sign. And march up and down the street. But I put it on a cookie for heaven’s sake.”
Fast-forward one week and everything had changed for Bellingham, who has now issued an “unapology” for the controversial cookie and stated that he intends to bake more of them, as he had received an outpouring of support from across the country after the initial controversy had gone viral.
In an interview with KOMO News, Bellingham said, “The phone messages saved has like 40-or-50 messages that I can’t even respond to from people all over the country wanting me to ship them cookies.”
Though he had initially apologized for offending anyone with the politicized cookie, following the support he received he is now “unapologizing” for the tasty border security-related treat and has resumed baking them, this time by the dozens for sale to anyone who wants them in the local area.
In another Facebook post explaining his reversal just days after the first post, Bellingham alluded to his First Amendment-protected right to free speech, which would include writing whatever he wants on the cookies he bakes in his own bakery.
Bellingham wrote, “Am I supposed to be quiet because I can’t write what I want, or I can only write what they want or makes them happy? No. That’s not how it is. They can write whatever they want on their own cookie and I can do that on mine.”
To be sure, Bellingham still insists that while he supports increased border security measures, he doesn’t go as far as supporting a wall along the entirety of the border, and reiterated that the cookies bearing the border wall message were intended as a joke, not a political message.
He told KOMO that his decision to resume baking the cookies was a business decision — obviously, as they proved more popular than unpopular — and had nothing to do with politics.
As for those who insisted on being offended by the message inscribed with frosting on a cookie, Bellingham said, “People should lighten up,” as he proceeded to write “Lighten up” on a heart-shaped cookie he was finishing.
This baker felt the wrath of the left over a simple cookie that read “Build that Wall,” and nearly gave in to the online mob that descended upon him.
That is, until he also received an outpouring of support from others all across the country, which gave him the strength to metaphorically tell the perpetually offended what they could do with the humorous cookies they found so offensive, and that is just awesome.
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