After recently selling a large portion of his stake in Papa John's, John Schnatter showed up at Donald Trump's rally in Lexington, Kentucky, on Monday.
Papa John's founder John Schnatter attends the Trump rally in Lexington, Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/SMgnJag6gd
— Ryan C. Hermens (@ryanhermens) November 5, 2019
A photo posted to Twitter by Ryan Hermens shows the Papa Johns founder — who was previously caught using a racial slur as Blavity previously reported — attending the Trump rally. Social media users, who were not surprised to see his support for Trump, took the opportunity to ridicule the former CEO and his pizza.
"Papa John’s – the official pizza of neo-Nazis," one Twitter user said.
Papa John’s – the official pizza of neo-Nazis.
— Johnny (@coderipper) November 6, 2019
According to CNN, Papa John's was the official sponsor of the NFL in 2017 when Schnatter blamed Colin Kaepernick's protests for declining sales.
Social media users brought up the former CEO's tainted history after seeing the latest photo of him at Trump's rally.
"Sadly, not surprised. He fits right in with the Trump rally crowd," Marla Morris on Twitter said. "He was forced out of the company he founded for his criticism of the NFL player protests and for using a racial slur when trying to justify previous NFL national anthem protest comments."
Sadly, not surprised. He fits right in with the Trump rally crowd. He was forced out of the company he founded for his criticism of the NFL player protests and for using a racial slur when trying to justify previous NFL national anthem protest comments.
— Marla Morris (@badpippin) November 6, 2019
In 2018, Forbes received a secretly taped audio of the former chairman using the N-word during a meeting.
“Colonel Sanders called blacks n****rs,” he reportedly said, while complaining that Sanders never faced backlash for using the racial slur.
The 57-year-old later tried to defend his use of the racial slur, USA Today reported.
“I used the N-word … because I was trying to make a point that I wasn’t going to do that, that’s not what we’re about,” the Papa John's founder said. “My comments were anti-racist.”
After seeing the photo of Schnatter at the Trump rally, social media users noticed the lack of diversity among the crowd.
"All these pictures of Trump rallies are all white, middle-aged to seniors, scattered young people here and there, some woman but overwhelmingly racially and gender narrow," one Twitter user said. "This is not America, these people are over represented thanks to the Electoral College."
All these pictures of Trump rallies are all white, middle-aged to seniors, scattered young people here and there, some woman but overwhelmingly racially and gender narrow. This is not America, these people are over represented thanks to the Electoral College
— Carlos Miquilarena (@carlmiquilarena) November 6, 2019
There was also a mix of sarcasm as social media users mocked the former CEO.
"Wow look at all the diversity," one person said sarcastically.
Wow look at all the diversity! <— dripping with sarcasm
— ????Madi Quawsaunt (@ATG_29) November 6, 2019
"Damn that’s wild Brody same dude that said black football players taking a knee caused he’s pizza sales to down," another person tweeted.
Damn that’s wild Brody same dude that said black football players taking a knee caused he’s pizza sales to down
— 2️⃣2️⃣Phino (@22phinoo) November 5, 2019
According to Biz Journals, Schnatter sold more than a third of his remaining stake in the company on November 1.