Supporters have also helped the owner of Hive Bakery in Flower Mound make big profits in recent weeks, serving up a side success with controversy.
FLOWER MOUND, Texas — At Hive Bakery, owner Haley Popp is no stranger to crafting elaborate cakes for customers in North Texas, around the nation and across the globe. She’s even been featured on the Food Network.
Popp is also unafraid to let people know her liberal-leaning thoughts online and in her store. She’s no fan of President Donald Trump and has ruffled feathers with some in the community, she said, ever since selling LGBTQIA+ pride cookies in her first year of ownership.
“Donald Trump is vile. I did not vote for him. I wouldn’t do that in a million years,” Popp said.
“We’ve received all kinds of backlash. It was atrocious. That first year was when we really found our community because when you put yourself out there, like when you authentically give people who you are, they connect, and they see themselves in us and this bakery,” Popp said.
However, a different level of backlash has come to the shop since Trump was re-elected, Popp told WFAA on Monday. She said Trump supporters have been crank-calling the phone lines and ordering Trump cakes that she said no one was serious about buying.
Popp said the latest inquiries came before Inauguration Day this week. She said her custom cakes take weeks to make and getting a Trump cake on short notice wouldn’t be possible.
“Nobody wanted to order cakes—they were just giving us [explative] like ‘Ha ha Trump won,'” Popp said. “We always reply that we will make their cake, ask when they need it and how many people it will serve. And the answer is always ‘eat [explative]’ or something like that.”
Popp went to the Hive’s Facebook page to explain her position and used some straightforward language to achieve that goal:
“Custom work requires notice, especially when it’s the best in town.
They love to cry about it and pretend they’ve been denied because we discriminate. It’s a lie. They love to tell people we charge higher prices for Trump goods. It’s a lie. They love to whine, and [explative], and complain, and harass, and taunt, and belittle, and cheat, and fabricate, and pollute everything they touch. That’s who these people are, and we’re so thankful they never visit Hive Bakery.
Even though the criminal they voted for won, they still come for us like children with schoolyard insults. It’s never enough. They’re bullies. These people who reside here in this town are absolute garbage.”
A recipe for backlash
The post was shared by the popular right-leaning account Libs of TikTok and went viral on X (formerly Twitter), bringing in more than new “fans.” Popp has been fielding a flood of new crank callers, vulgar DMs and fake cake requests.
Popp described being bombarded by obscene callers. “You fat [explative], I’m going to shove a cake up your [explative]. I hope you die,” she recounted from one chilling message.
Others took to signing her up for spam emails, including adult content and GED courses. Yet through the vitriol, Popp remains unshaken, firing back at her detractors online and turning their attempts to rattle her into fuel for the bakery’s growing fame.
Sweet revenge
The very same post that brought hostility also earned Hive Bakery new supporters. Loyal customers and like-minded individuals rallied to Popp’s side. “We are doubling and tripling numbers, and it’s incredible,” she revealed. “Mission accomplished Libs of TikTok.”
Popp, who mentions on her page that her parents are Republicans, told WFAA she has no issues being paid to make a Trump cake.
“It was just a bunch of crybabies who had no valid point. I’ll make your stupid cake. I just need time.”
In Flower Mound, politics, profits and cake are on the rise.
