Trump surprises Florida restaurant owner struggling to stay open, encourages guests to 'keep it going'

A Florida restaurant owner struggling to keep doors open in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic received a surprise message of support from former President Trump.

"I'd like to ask everybody to pitch in and help save Harry and the Natives. It's a special restaurant, a very special place. People love it. It's been around a long time. Like a really long time. But it's fallen prey to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden's economy," Trump told owner Harry MacArthur in a pre-recorded message Friday on "Fox & Friends."

"We have to keep the good ones open, especially when it comes to Florida. Florida is a very, very special place, and that's a very, very great restaurant. So Harry and the Natives, keep it going. We love it. And you're going to be around for a long time."

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Co-host Steve Doocy hosted Friday's show from the packed restaurant in Hobe Sound after MacArthur wrote on Facebook he would have to shut down unless something changed by October 12. 

The community, however, rallied behind MacArthur by supporting a GoFundMe set up by his son, Wyatt. 

MacArthur called the response from Trump and the community "overwhelming."

"Turns out everybody cares," he said.

The restaurant has been in MacArthur's family for 72 years. Although the business was originally run by his parents, MacArthur reopened the business as Harry and the Natives after his father died in the 1980s. 

MacArthur's business was close to bankruptcy in 2021, but after a "Breakfast with Friends" segment, the business was able to hold on. But the financial struggle was not over.

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"Fox saved us then. Fox and Steve Doocy saved us, and we rolled for the next six months on that and then everything else. And then the economy kept going south and everything else," Macarthur told co-host Steve Doocy.

"It's like a nationwide thing. Family restaurants aren't going to be there."

The latest polling from 7News/Suffolk University/USA Today shows the economy and inflation remain the top issue for voters at 34%. Since the Biden-Harris administration took office in 2021, prices in the Sunshine State have surged 21.7%.

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