'Fox & Friends' comes out to Mac's Cafe
It was lights, cameras and action at Mac's Route 8 Cafe on Pittsburgh Road when Pete Hegseth of “Fox & Friends” stopped by early Tuesday morning on primary election day.
“Fox and Friends” kicked off its third visit to the restaurant at 5:30 a.m. with Pete Hegseth as the host this time around. In between taping live segments and teasers for the “Fox & Friends” podcast, Hegseth would sit around and talk with patrons, many of whom came early to see the event.
When Hegseth was asked why “Fox & Friends” decided to bring Butler to the national stage again, he said one of the reasons was how the area has been affected by redistricting.
Earlier this year the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled congressional maps drawn in 2011 by state legislators unconstitutional. After legislators failed to present redrawn maps by a court-imposed deadline the court instituted its own map, which split the county between three Congressional Districts — the 15th, 16th and 17th. The map also split Cranberry Township between Districts 16 and 15. Butler is one of four counties split between three districts under the new map. Hegseth also said the show came back for the good food and good people in Butler.
About 20 of those people showed up throughout the day to grab breakfast and join the broadcast. Some came to watch. Others, like Stephen McKivigan and his fiancee, Mio Park, were interviewed by Hegseth.
McKivigan, who regularly eats at Mac's, came to get breakfast earlier than usual to see the broadcast and was happy “Fox and Friends” was back in town.
“It's nice for a large news station to come to a small town and to get people's opinions on the news,” he said.
Other customers shared in his sentiment.
Roger Hoffman of Worthington said, “It's nice to see Butler at a national level.” One of Hoffman's many friends, Ed Natali, the former chairman of the Butler County Republican Committee, also enjoyed seeing Butler on the national stage.
“I think Butler's a wonderful community,” he said. “It's great to see us get some PR out here and across the country.”
People were so excited for “Fox & Friends” to be there, at one point a man ran up to the door, shouted “Fox News rocks” and then hurriedly returned to his car.
Hegseth enjoyed being in Butler because it reminded him of growing up in a small town in Minnesota. He relates to hardworking folks like those in Butler.
Sara Negley, a manager at Mac's Cafe, is one of those hard-working people. She said the cafe really loves having “Fox & Friends” stop by.
“Oh we love, absolutely love it,” she said. “And the staff they bring in is so nice.”
For Mac's this is a great opportunity as well.
“It's exciting for everybody, it really is. They come in to see what's going on TV in the little town of Butler.”
But not all reactions to “Fox & Friends” visiting Butler have been as enthusiastic, according to Negley. “We get some not so nice phone calls,” she said. “We just want people to know, they contact us and the restaurant is neutral, you know. We've invited CNN, they haven't reached out.”
While not everyone may like “Fox & Friends,” Hegseth said traveling to film segments for the show allows him to get out of his own bubble. He has conversations with people about what really matters to them, what's affecting their lives and who they think represents their values. Visiting towns like Butler allows Hegseth and the people at Fox to get away from Washington, D.C., and New York political bubbles and see what voters actually think.
“You have to get out of your own bubble, even if you're a conservative,” Hegseth said. “Even if you support the president, even if you're a certain point of view, you can get out of step with how people's lives are really being affected.”
