NEW YORK — In the middle of a Donald Trump photo-op at a barbershop in the Bronx last week, a half-truth emerged from the scrum and gathered steam in the ensuing days of relentless campaign coverage.

But the statement in this case didn’t come from Trump. It was a barber whose words, edited and condensed for television, would spark a social media frenzy.

The barber, Javiel Rodriguez, Jr., told Trump that he was concerned about the rising cost of energy. His utility bill for the business, Knockout Barbershop, had risen from $2,100 to $15,000 over the past seven months, he said.

Related Story: Harris Calls Trump a Fascist: 6 Takeaways From Her CNN Town Hall

Trump could hardly believe it. He blinked hard, leaned forward and blurted: “What?”

The exchange, part of a town hall that aired Monday on “Fox & Friends,” went viral when one of Trump’s supporters posted a clip.

People on the social platforms X and Instagram speculated about the cause of the increase. Could the barber have been mining Bitcoin? Could he be growing weed? Was a neighbor stealing his power? Was Rodriguez stretching the truth?

The truth turned out to be more mundane: The bill was an error from Con Edison connected to the switch-over to a smart meter in his shop. But Rodriguez, 33, was nonetheless swept into a political maelstrom.

Related Story: Trump Hurls a String of Insults at Harris Including ‘Lazy,’ a ...

Trump Promises to Abolish Federal Income Tax

Trump visited the barbershop last Thursday, hours before his appearance at a charity dinner in Manhattan, where he and Vice President Kamala Harris delivered remarks.

His visit was edited into a 15-minute segment that aired Monday on “Fox & Friends,” showing Trump sitting in the shop next to the series co-host, Lawrence Jones, and listening to the concerns from a small but welcoming crowd. Almost all the participants were men, from the barbers wearing shirts that read, “Make Barbers Great Again” to the customers in protective capes.

Trump promised to abolish the federal income tax and bring down their energy bills. In between, he signed red hats embroidered with his signature slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

Rodriguez, a third-generation barber, was proud that he had drawn a presidential candidate to his shop to address his community’s concerns. He said in an interview that he had expected the visit to create controversy because his community, largely Latino, was divided over whom to support in the presidential election. But he hadn’t expected it to get “vicious,” he said.

Once the clip was posted online, some social media users disparaged Rodriguez, calling him a liar and accusing him of misleading people, all to place blame on Harris and to boost Trump. He defended himself the next day on Instagram, posting screenshots of his past bills and a shut-off notice.

In reality, he said, his remarks were taken out of context. “This had nothing to do with Biden and Harris,” he said in the interview. He never mentioned them, he said, and he had told Trump that he was fighting Con Edison over his bill. That comment did not make the final cut on Fox, though he shared his own, more complete recording on Instagram.

Related Story: Trump Wanted Generals Like Hitler’s and Said Nazi Leader ‘Did Some ...

He said he wanted to hear Trump answer: “What are you going to do to help me fix the situation?”

Rodriguez said he was initially frustrated by the negative attention. But he later said he was grateful because it had made Con Edison tend to his bill with urgency. Still, the situation had not been fully resolved as of Wednesday.

The billing documents he shared showed the error was recurring. His problem began when Con Ed replaced his meter with a smart meter in December, he said. The meter malfunctioned, but he did not notice until May, when his bills started to be exorbitant. His bill reached as high as $13,099.31 in August, a period when he was charged for almost 14 times the amount of electricity that he had actually used.

In a statement, Con Edison said it was aware of the billing issue and had been working since August to resolve it. “We have not, and will not, collect payment until the error has been corrected,” the company said.

–

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Ashley Southall
c.2024 The New York Times Company