Anthony Bourdain will not hesitate to express himself on any subject, including when he paid a visit to Uproxx. From everything from Cronuts (he equates them with Jesus) to Guy Fieri (he uses a douche metaphor), the man holds some well-versed opinions. If you were wondering what he thinks about current GOP candidate Donald Trump, let’s just say he’s not a fan.
In a new interview with SiriusXM’s StandUP With Pete Dominick, Bourdain takes issue with Trump’s notorious stance on immigrants. Trump has trumpeted his desire to build a big ol’ fence across the Mexican border, but Bourdain maintains that immigrants are extremely valuable to our country. He says they are the “backbone” of the restaurant industry, and a Trump presidency would “shut down” nearly every restaurant:
“I grew up in the restaurant business — 30 years in the restaurant business. I came out of, like a lot of other white kids, I rolled out of a prestigious culinary institute and went to work in real restaurants. I walked into restaurants and always, the person who had been there the longest, who took the time to show me how it was done, was always Mexican or Central American. The backbone of the industry — meaning most of the people in my experience cooking, preparing your food.”
Bourdain pushes further and says restaurant jobs are exceedingly difficult to fill, and the problem isn’t going to solve itself:
“Twenty of those years in this business I was an employer, I was a manager employer. Never, in any of those years, not once, did anyone walk into my restaurant — any American-born kid — walk into my restaurant and say I’d like a job as a night porter or a dishwasher. Even a prep cook — few and far between. Just not willing to start at the bottom like that.”
It remains to be seen whether Bourdain’s theory will be tested, although Trump does appear to have a shot at the presidency. Then again, anything can happen in a year as we’ve seen with past political campaigns.
Here’s Bourdain’s interview with SiriusXM if you’d like to take a listen.
(Via SiriusXM’s StandUP With Pete Dominick and Eater)
