Texas baker gets brutal backlash after putting Tim Walz's face on cookie - and it's not the first time

A Texas baker says she's gotten death threats after selling a batch of cookies with vice presidential candidate Tim Walz's face on them.

Haley Popp put the limited run treats for sale at her bakery The Hive in Flower Mound, which has been in operation since 2018.

She wrote on Instagram: 'We only have a few dozen! Order online or come see us!!' 

While they quickly sold out, what came next was much more negative and for Popp, expected.

Popp received bitter messages ranging from slamming her physical appearance to hoping that her bakery 'and all the gay people' would burn.

The baker has seen this happen in the past when she was targeted for a series of cookies for LGBTQ Pride Month. 

She said of the response to her cookies: 'This business is just an extension of who I am, and I don't think I should have to be quiet. I've built this platform. Why shouldn't I use it?' 

She's also sold cookies with Kamala Harris' face on them, ones themed around the Charli XCX 'Kamala is brat' phenomenon and ones with the slogan: 'When they go weird, we go Walz!' 

Popp, an occasional contestant on Food Network reality programming, says that she's been told 'shut up and bake' and refused.

'I'm never posting anything fueled by hatred. I literally just post photos of cookies, and that will get me a death threat,' she told the Dallas Morning News.

She claims to have been threatened every which way, from being yelled at on the phone and online, to even letters put together by using magazine cut-outs. 

It's never hurt her business to lean into politics and that has only kept up her resolve to speak out about what she cares for. 

'You can't make people be quiet that want to talk. I think a lot of small businesses should start being more authentically themselves. It's no way to live to just be silenced,' she said.

Other small businesses often attempt to network with her and commiserate over similar experiences of harassment. 

'We have an army of people behind us. We are not alone in this community.' 

Bakers often attempt to get in the spirit of things when the election rolls around, including an Ohio bake shop attempts to correctly predict the result of the 2024 election via the sale of candidate-themed treats.

Busken Bakery in Cincinnati has only been wrong once in the last 40 years in predicting the results of the presidential race.

The shop's various locations sell cookies with both candidates' faces on them - as well as a third way 'Cookie Party' option with a smiley face - and keep count in an attempt to predict who wins in November.

So far, the store's history could be great news for Donald Trump, who has outsold Kamala Harris cookies by 2,953 to 2,134. 

It's always important to note potential third-party candidates playing spoiler, as the 'Cookie Party' treat has sold 397 'votes' so far.

A Pennsylvania bakery is also using cookies to help predict the winner of the 2024 Presidential election.

Lochel’s Bakery in Hatboro is tracking the sales of their red Trump cookies and blue Harris cookies, as customers from all over the US place orders in favor of their choice of candidate.

Bakery owner, Kathleen Lochel, has been sharing the progress of her sweet experiment on social media, noting earlier today that ‘political cookies are sold out for Saturday.’

As of Friday morning, the small business had sold a grand total of 5,200 Trump cookies compared to just 500 Harris cookies.