Self-proclaimed "MAGA dentist" Harleen Grewal is facing backlash after video went viral of her claiming to harm patients uncomfortable with her MAGA-themed office.
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Harwell has a wall of fame of her posing with prominent Republican figures, as well as MAGA merch in her dental office.
She has shown off both online.
Grewal has since made most of her social media private in the wake of her boasts about inflicting deliberate pain on some of her patients went viral on TikTok.
In 2021, Grewal—of Skyline Smiles in Santa Clarita, California—made a comment about withholding painkillers from Democrats as well as other comments about her distaste for her liberal patients during a speech at the Republican Liberty Gala. A video of her remarks went viral on TikTok before being taken down, but not before many copies and responses were posted online.
Here's Grewal's 2021 comments:
Grewal said:
"So, I have a secret hat I use sometimes that says ‘Make Your Smile Great Again.’ So, I wear that when I work on my patients. When they look horrified or complain, I quietly cut back on the laughing gas…and say ‘you got this, its not as bad as you think it is'."
People were appalled that someone providing medical care would even joke about deliberately harming their patients.
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Grewal defended her comments to KTVU Fox 11, saying:
"I think America is a free country, it’s free speech. No one is directly getting harmed from it."
But MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's Attorney General, Pam Bondi, disagrees with Grewal on whether free speech covers her "hate speech" remarks.
Grewal continued:
"I'm making a joke. We all make jokes. I'm sure the Democrats get in a room and make jokes about Republicans too."
"People should take light of the situation, relax, chill, it’s not that big of a deal to just make a joke every now and then."
Rebecca Hindman, a Santa Clarita resident who shared the video on her "Rise Up SCV" page, countered:
"It’s not a joke, laughing about inflicting pain as a dentist is not a joke. We have communities that fear going to the dentist it can impact their health."
"She may have thought she was making a joke, but that’s representing herself and her business."
Civil rights attorney James DeSimone said Grewal may have opened herself up for lawsuits.
DeSimone told KTVU Fox 11:
"It is against the law to discriminate against someone based on their political beliefs. When you have a dentist who says that she's deliberately treating you differently because of your political beliefs, there doesn't seem to be anything too funny about that."
In her 2021 remarks, Grewal said she got great pleasure from seeing patients visibly uncomfortable when observing her MAGA displays throughout the public and patient areas of her dental office.
She assumed this made them Democrats or liberals. But her patients may have just found her displays tacky and unprofessional in a business setting.
Does Grewal think taste and professional standards are things no Republicans possess?
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