Vice Presidential nominee and Ohio Senator, JD Vance, took a trip down South for a rally at the Lowndes County Sheriff’s office on Aug. 22. He traveled around Valdosta and visited Holt’s Donut Shop where a viral video was born.

Ebony Statem, the Holt’s employee speaking in the video, described the event to be “very chaotic.”

A secret service worker entered the establishment and asked if he could see the business’s security footage. According to Statem, the alarm had gone off in the restaurant on Tuesday, so she hadn’t thought much of it.

The service worker did not say that the VP nominee would soon be arriving. It wasn’t until Statem looked out the window and noticed many police and blackout vehicles that she began to suspect something more than just a security footage check was going on.

JD Vance introduced himself when he entered the building.

“I’m JD Vance, I’m running for vice president,” said Vance. “Good to see you.”

“Ok,” Statem said.

Statem then said that she did not want to be on camera and then the camera panned off her.

The VP nominee then began his order.

“I mean a lot of glazed here, some sprinkle stuff, some of these cinnamon rolls,” said Vance. ”Just whatever makes sense.”

The transaction turned out to be around $80. Vance presented a $100 bill and told the employees to split the tip, leaving around $7 for each employee.

The video was then posted to the internet. An uproar of attention from supporters and critics quickly commented and shared the post. Vance soon after made his comment on the encounter.

“I just felt terrible for that woman,” Vance said to NBC news. “We walked in, and there’s 20 Secret Service agents, and there’s 15 cameras, and she clearly had not been properly warned, and she was terrified, right? I just felt awful for her.”

After the event, people called the store and said that they were going to boycott the store for being Democrats. Statem said that they didn’t recognize him.

One journalist traveled from London after the event, flew to Jacksonville and drove to Valdosta for the story. The workers did not comment.

The business has remained rather the same, according to Statem.

The management of the store told the employees that they did not have to comment on the event and that they had no risk of losing their jobs.

“I thought it was chaos,” said Statem.

Written by Jenna Arnold, Editor-in-Chief. Photo courtesy of  Jenna Arnold.