A North Carolina hot dog vendor says Tractor Supply banned him from all its stores, and he claims it’s over his support for Trump

A North Carolina hot dog vendor says Tractor Supply cut ties with his business at every one of its stores, and he believes his support for President Trump is the reason why. According to the Daily Dot, Jeff Hartman runs All American Hot Dogs, a food stand that had been setting up outside Tractor Supply locations and, according to him, feeding store employees for free.

In a video shared on X, Hartman said he was informed by store management that he was barred from operating at any Tractor Supply location. He said this happened after setting up at a store in Spring Lake, North Carolina.

He said the decision came down from a regional manager, and that it was tied to posts supporting Trump on his personal Facebook page, not the page for his hot dog business. “I really find that it’s unfair that I’m not allowed to sell my hot dogs at all on any Tractor Supply premises. It’s kind of disappointing,” he said.

The story has drawn comparisons to past corporate boycotts

Hartman reiterated that his business had made a habit of feeding both employees and local managers at Tractor Supply stores for free, framing the ban as a surprising response given that history. Legally, a company in Tractor Supply’s position generally has wide latitude here. According to LegalClarity, the First Amendment restricts government censorship of speech, not decisions made by private businesses.

That means a company can typically end a relationship with a vendor over political speech without running afoul of the Constitution, absent a specific state law saying otherwise. The story has echoes of past corporate controversies. According to NPR, Tractor Supply itself eliminated its diversity, equity, and inclusion roles and pulled back from Pride sponsorships in 2024.

That followed weeks of online backlash from conservative activists, a decision the company framed at the time as a response to customer feedback. The two other comparisons that have circulated alongside this story also check out. Bud Light faced a prolonged boycott from conservative customers in 2023 after partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on a promotional campaign.

Cracker Barrel, meanwhile, drew backlash from a different, more traditionalist customer base in 2025 after unveiling a redesigned logo that dropped its longtime “Uncle Herschel” imagery as part of a larger rebrand. A similar situation recently played out at a Memphis pizza shop, where an owner’s political stance triggered calls for a boycott.

Tractor Supply had not publicly responded to Hartman’s claims as of publication, and his account has not been independently verified.