Our State Needs More Chick-Fil-As, Panders Montana Politician Running For Governor

As some airports and colleges distance themselves from Chick-fil-A over its stance on LGBTQ issues, one state is rolling out the red carpet for the chicken chain. The Associated Press reports Montana Attorney General Tim Fox—a Republican candidate for governor—sent a letter to Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy urging the company to open more restaurants in the Treasure State. You want some waffle fries with that pandering?

Fox's letter to Cathy notes there's only one Chick-fil-A in Montana, located in Kalispell, and that the state would welcome more outposts. Fox also makes the Chick-fil-A question a religious liberties issue, writing "I want you to know Montanans don't discriminate against others based on religious affiliation." (Except when they do.) If it sounds like I'm salty about this letter—and its accompanying video in which Fox stands next to a lawnmower, because man stuff—I am. I'm a Montana resident who sees this whole Chick-fil-A-as-cultural-proxy as tiresome.

We get it, Mr. Fox, you want to flex your conservative-values cred. (Nice mower, by the way.) But pledging allegiance to a fast-food chain doesn't have much to do with Montana at all. In fact, your letter might rankle a few of cattle-rancher pals, despite your statement that "Just to be clear, in Montana, beef is king." Why not spend your time working on issues that matter to Montanans, like rural health care, public lands, and the heartbreakingly high rate of missing and murdered indigenous women? Come to Missoula and try Wally & Buck's fried chicken sandwich. I'll take that over the Chick-fil-A version any day.