Copyright Kalispell Inter Lake
In the span of 48 hours, Major and Michelle Robinson’s downtown Helena business went from preparing for its busiest holiday season to trying to survive a national political firestorm. On Monday, the Robinsons’ store manager, Haley McKnight, told the owners of Sage & Oats Trading Post — a retail gift shop on a quaint block of Helena’s downtown main street — that there would be a national news article coming out about a voicemail she left for U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy over the summer. In July, McKnight, who had already filed to run as a candidate for the Helena city commission, called Sheehy to register her rage over the freshman Republican senator’s support for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. On the eve of Helena’s local election, McKnight’s angry words, wishing that Sheehy experience cancer and “die in the street like a dog,” began to echo on national news platforms and social media accounts with millions of followers. The Robinsons said they had about an hour’s notice about the article but were still unprepared for the onslaught of critical and even violent messages that soon began to pile up against their business on online platforms. The couple, who described the voicemail as “completely out of character” for the 30-year-old McKnight, said Wednesday that they had decided to fire her, after previously suspending her without pay. The Robinsons said that they were strongly opposed to the “threatening language” she used in the voicemail, but still acknowledged that terminating McKnight had been difficult. The owners think of her like a family member, they said, and cited her integral role in growing the business, which opened in 2018. “Even with your work family or your regular family, if you make a mistake, you learn to grow from those mistakes,” Major Robinson said in a Wednesday phone interview with Montana Free Press. “This one’s a mistake on a national level. And it’s hard because it’s impacting not just us personally, but our business as well.” Major Robinson estimated that the store had received “thousands” of messages since the article about McKnight’s voicemail was first published in the National Review and picked up by other outlets. Some of the messages, he said, were driven by factually incorrect articles that described McKnight as the owner of Sage & Oats, rather than an employee. Others blasted the Robinsons for hiring her in the first place, saying they “should have known” about her politics and views. Still other phone messages and online comments seemed to only express a desire for some kind of retribution. “‘The only thing we can do for them to understand is to boycott them and drive them out of business,’” Major Robinson said, paraphrasing one theme in the comments. “They literally said that. … ‘We hope your store burns to the ground.’” The Robinsons announced on Tuesday that they would be closing their business for at least a week, partly out of concern for their employees’ safety. The election that McKnight had been campaigning for came and went, with two other candidates clinching the open seats she had been vying for on the city commission. But the couple still does not feel secure enough to reopen their doors. “We didn’t want any of our employees to have to face the public that’s coming in and berating them or doing something even worse,” Major Robinson said. Now, the couple is wondering if their business will survive, citing misinformed ire and damage to its reputation. The store usually has artisans and musicians come in to feature their work during the town’s seasonal art walks, one of which is scheduled for the first Friday of November. But since the voicemail was posted online, many of those guests have canceled their appearances, Michelle Robinson said. In statements to MTFP and other news outlets since her voicemail was first made public, McKnight initially described her rage about Sheehy’s support for the bill as justified, even if it lacked tact. She pointed to the bill’s projected impact on Medicaid recipients and others who rely on health care subsidies to afford insurance plans. Her greatest regret, she previously said, was that her comments had harmed organizations she volunteered with and her place of work. In another statement to media outlets on Wednesday, McKnight issued a more expansive apology to Sheehy for her comments. “I truly apologize for my words and the damage that they have caused. In my heart of hearts, I wish none of these things on Senator Sheehy. I’ve taken time to reflect on my words and actions, and what I said was inexcusable. He’s a person, just like me, and no one, regardless of their beliefs, should ever be spoken to like that. I wish him and his family well, and I am committed to a more civil discourse moving forward on my behalf,” McKnight said. McKnight also said Wednesday that she had decided to step down from her role as board president of Helena Young Professionals, or HYP, a nonprofit group that aims to strengthen relationships between Helena’s younger workforce and the local community. “Since the story was released, HYP has been getting a really unfair amount of blowback for it,” McKnight told MTFP. “My actions don’t reflect HYP in any way. I’m doing this action out of an abundance of caution and respect for the organization.” The Robinsons on Wednesday said that McKnight had been understanding about their decision to terminate her employment. “I know it doesn’t negate the things she said in the voicemail. It doesn’t,” Major Robinson said. “But it’s still difficult when you know the person, and know the entire person, not just one thing they’ve done wrong.” The couple said they don’t have a distinct timeline for when they plan to reopen. Both Michelle and Major work full-time jobs outside the store, making it difficult to staff the shop without additional help. With the surge of negative attention, they predicted that hiring new workers might be difficult. For the Robinsons, opening up a retail store that specializes in sourcing Native-made goods had been a longstanding dream. Major and the couple’s children are enrolled members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in southeast Montana, where the Robinsons lived for years before moving to Helena. Michelle, as a non-Native person raised on the East Coast, said she became enthusiastic about the business idea after she saw the beautiful craftsmanship and beadwork of many Native artisans. After several years in business, she said, the couple had begun to feel like their reputation was durable enough that they could worry less about the day-to-day operations. Now, Michelle said, the future is unclear. “We’re wondering, is the damage irreparable?” she said.
