Holly Tinch, the owner of Holly's Road Kill Saloon in McLeod, Montana, is being criticized after she referred to COVID-19 as the "Ch*nk flu" in social media posts.
In an interview with KTVQ, Tinch insisted she is not a racist.
You can hear her remarks in the video below.
Tinch said:
"I’m not a racist person at all. And if you think that I am, that’s your problem, not mine."
"You want to call me an Irish name, have at it. Ask me if I care, I don’t.”
"I’m going to stand by my First Amendment and my Second Amendment and the rest of them."
However the First Amendment applies only to governmental action and does not apply to behavior by private employers, private companies, or private non-government individuals unless they worked in concert with the government.
Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences.
The social media page for Holly's Road Kill Saloon has been inundated with bad reviews since Tinch's social media post.
She has not stopped there, either.
Tinch, whose bar has a "Warning: Does not play well with liberals" sign out front, complained online people had "decided to call the bar, write sh*t on Billings Service Group (FB) because I said Ch*nk flu."
Unsurprisingly, Tinch has not attacted much sympathy.
\u201cAccording to this bar owner, it's not racist to call COVID the "ch*nk flu".\n\nSorry, Holly Tinch of Holly's Road Kill Saloon in McLeod, Montana, but it is. You're a racist and a doxxer.\n\nhttps://t.co/Xfz1Ud8GwD\u201d— Sean #BlackLivesMatter #IStandWithUkraine (@Sean #BlackLivesMatter #IStandWithUkraine) 1662483965
\u201cThis is how every sentence starts out from a racist person.\n\nhttps://t.co/AvrsHOybwQ\u201d— Tea Pain (@Tea Pain) 1662472665
\u201cMeet racist Holly Tinch, who owns Holly's Road Kill Saloon in McLeod, Montana (only 2 stars on Yelp) & doesn't care if people are offended by her posts. She refers to COVID as the "Ch*nk flu" in her social media posts.\n\nhttps://t.co/7ur8Fz4zxf\u201d— Mar-a-Hell-No!! (@Mar-a-Hell-No!!) 1662484147
\u201c#MAGA means openly racist speech as accepted standard again.\n\n'I'm not a racist person': Holly Tinch, Montana bar owner facing furious backlash after referring to Covid-19 the "Ch*nk flu" etc in racist social media posts that have continued unabated. https://t.co/Vk7SnY964z\u201d— Zula (@Zula) 1662474569
\u201c"I\u2019m not a racist" is almost invariably said by someone who is a racist.\nhttps://t.co/AOzauYOsIu\u201d— Pitt Griffin (@Pitt Griffin) 1662480109
\u201cDespicable people\u201d— \ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@\ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1662473277
\u201cThis is a shameless, trumped-up styled attempt at attention\u2014from ethnonationalists she wrongly has presumed there is some vague plurality of in an otherwise rational America. \n\nWe must disabuse this sociopathy of its relevance in November.\u201d— North Tahoe Dems\ud83c\udf3b\u2696\ufe0f\ud83c\udf3b (@North Tahoe Dems\ud83c\udf3b\u2696\ufe0f\ud83c\udf3b) 1662475109
\u201cI know people like this. They do not think using the N word makes them a racist. Oh I see then your hate and degradation of the people who happen to be of that race doesn\u2019t make you a racist either. Wondering how awful they have to be to be considered a racist by a racist. KKK?\u201d— Ladybug (@Ladybug) 1662478183
\u201cIf you have to tell people you're not a racist you probably are! \ud83d\ude44 -- https://t.co/HXlO15qFrG\u201d— L B #WeWillNotGoBack! \u262e\ufe0f \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 \ud83c\udf0a\u2696\ufe0f \ud83d\udc1d\u262f\ufe0f\ud83d\uddfd\ud83e\udd84\ud83e\udd8b\ud83d\ude3a (@L B #WeWillNotGoBack! \u262e\ufe0f \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 \ud83c\udf0a\u2696\ufe0f \ud83d\udc1d\u262f\ufe0f\ud83d\uddfd\ud83e\udd84\ud83e\udd8b\ud83d\ude3a) 1662474905
Anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes have seen an uptick since the pandemic was politicized by former Republican President Donald Trump and his administration, who regularly referred to COVID-19 as "the China virus."
Last year, a study published in The American Journal of Public Health found Trump’s rhetoric led to a rise of anti-Asian sentiment online.
The study, which reviewed 1.2 million hashtags during the week of March 16, 2020—the first time Trump used the phrase “China virus” in a post—found that there was a “massive increase” in use of the hashtag #chinesevirus in reference to the Covid-19 pandemic.
#chinesevirus eventually overtook #covid19 in popularity.
Kim Johnston/Facebook 
Cam Hays/Facebook
@davidho/Bluesky
Kimberly Fasking/Facebook
@seanfl50/Bluesky
@j2theperson/X
Ware County Republicans/Facebook
Ware County Republicans/Facebook
Ware County Republicans/Facebook
Ware County Republicans/Facebook
Fox News
Thats Me I Know GIF by Jackie James
Hurry Up Countdown GIF by Escape Hunt UK
I Have No Idea Whatever GIF by MOODMAN
@RepOgles/X
@RepOgles/X