A baker put 'Build that Wall' on Valentine's cookie and got brutalized online for it

A baker in Washington state faced backlash and eventually apologized for creating a Valentine's Day cookie with "Build that Wall" written on it, KING-TV reported.

Ken Bellingham, the owner of Edmonds Bakery, said the message on the cookie was a joke, but some customers took it extremely seriously.

"People were just going off," Bellingham told KING. "They don't know anything about me and supposedly I'm some horrible person."

One customer, Ana Carrera, saw the cookie on display, took a picture of it, and shared it on Facebook. Her parents came to the United States from Mexico, so she took personal offense to the message.

"We were born here, but my parents were the stories you see on the news of people crossing the border because they just want a new start," Carrera said.

Carrera accused Bellingham of having "hate" associated with his business for using a phrase that she says has been co-opted by racists for their own usage.

"You say something with enough hate – you chant it, you have white supremacists, the alt-right chanting it – it's going to become racial," Carrera said during an interview with KING.

"A cookie like this does represent that there is some hate coming out of this bakery," she continued. "Whether he chooses to admit it or not."

Bellingham disagrees, as he tried to say in response to some of his online critics. He doesn't even support the border wall, and he wasn't trying to make a political statement.

"I guess the joke is on me," Bellingham said. "If I wanted to make a political statement, I'd put it on a sign. And march up and down the street. But I put it on a cookie for heaven's sake."