Some people have absolutely no sense of appropriate boundaries.
Look, we've all seen people wearing caps, t-shirts, or buttons that we disagreed with. I still get a moment of bemusement when I see a car (almost always a Subaru) sporting a bunch of Bernie Sanders stickers. But most of us are mature enough not to fly off the handle when we see someone sporting this kind of paraphernalia. No, it always seems to be the left that comes unglued when they see someone wearing a MAGA cap or a Charlie Kirk shirt. That's what happened in a Target store in California recently. My colleague Rusty Weiss brought us that story on Thursday, describing how a shrieking leftist Karen went off at an inoffensive, mature lady wearing a Charlie Kirk t-shirt while at work at a Target store.
Rusty writes:
An elderly Target employee in California, Jeanie Beeman, was verbally abused by a customer for wearing a Charlie Kirk "Freedom" t-shirt while on duty. The video prompted a viral backlash against the abuser. Now, Beeman's response would almost assuredly make Charlie smile.
To be clear, the customer brought the backlash upon herself here, launching a profane verbal attack on the woman for wearing the t-shirt while restocking racks at her store.
The unhinged woman asks Beeman if she is "f**king stupid" and accuses her of supporting “a racist.”
"They let you wear that shirt here?" she asks. "Why the f**k would you wear that, you're at work at Target?
Now that Karen, identified as one Michelea Ponce, has issued an apology.
Michelea Ponce Apologizes for Berating Elderly Target Worker.
— TaraBull (@TaraBull) December 18, 2025
Do you feel her apology is genuine? pic.twitter.com/Fn1dN8LjhI
Her apology reads in full:
I want to take full responsibility for my actions and say clearly and sincerely that I was wrong. I behaved badly, and I regret it deeply.
I want to directly apologize to Jeannie [sic]. I am truly sorry for approaching you at your workplace and putting you in an uncomfortable and unfair position. You did not deserve that, and my behavior was wrong.
I also apologize to Jeannie's family for the stress and attention my actions caused. I apologize to Target as her employer, I apologize to Enloe, and I apologize to the Chico community. I understand that what I did reflected poorly on myself and disrupted a sense of safety and respect that should exist in a workplace and in our community.
I did not handle the situation in the way I should have. I allowed my emotions to take over instead of choosing restraint and empathy. That was my failure, and I own it.
I regret my actions, and I am genuinely sorry for the harm they caused. I wish I can go back and undo what happened, but I can acknowledge it honestly, learn from it, and commit to doing better moving forward.
Read it through, and it seems sincere. In the generous spirit of the holiday season, let us all presume that it is, especially after the virtual beating this woman and her employer have received in the last 48 hours. There are none of us perfect, and few, if any, people can honestly say they haven't done something crass and stupid at one point or another - and this was crass and stupid indeed. Her employer, by the way, also released a statement:
The CEO of Enloe Health, CEO Mike Wiltermood, issued a statement and called Ponce's behavior "abhorrent and deeply concerning for our caregivers, our organization, and our community." He would not confirm her employment status, citing privacy policies.
He would not confirm her employment status. You don't say. It would be understandable for Enloe Health to have discharged this odious person, but it's California, so...
I'd like to think that Michelea Ponce is sincere in this apology. I'd like to think that she is genuinely contrite for her atrocious verbal attack on an inoffensive elderly lady. But I can't read minds, any more than anyone else, and for every Michelea Ponce that may realize she's done something stupid and is willing to sincerely admit her mistake, there are a hundred more raging, nasty leftists who would rage into a similar attack with no remorse or regret, and that's for sure and for certain.
As for Charlie's family, they have enough to deal with as it is.
This time, we'll be generous. It's Christmastime. Let this be the end of this incident, may Jeanie Beeman enjoy the windfall from the GiveSendGo fundraiser that was set up for her, and let's move on. There will be plenty more unhinged and unapologetic leftists to deal with in the new year.
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