The crowdfunding operation was successful, but the patient still died — at least in San Francisco. Erica Kious will close down her hair salon after getting accused by Nancy Pelosi of conducting a political “set up” against the House speaker. Kious told Tucker Carlson that Pelosi’s accusations unleashed attacks on her and her business, and that’s she’s afraid to return to San Francisco at all:

San Francisco salon owner Erica Kious said she is closing her business after the infamous visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Fox News reported.

“I am actually done in San Francisco and closing my doors, unfortunately,” Kious told Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night.

“I started to just get a ton of phone calls, text messages, emails, all my Yelp reviews… saying that they hope I go under and that I fail,” she told the host about her eSalon. “So just a lot of negativity towards my business.” …

On Wednesday night, Kious said all the negativity has made her hesitant to return to the city, where she has lived for 15 years.

“I’m actually afraid to go back… It’s a little scary and sad,” she told Carlson. “I do have a lot of positive calls and text messages from clients. But other than that, nothing but negativity.”

Carlson is aghast that Kious feels the need to leave San Francisco simply for telling the truth. Regardless of what excuses Pelosi gave after getting exposed, it’s clear that she’s not living by the same rules she wants imposed on others. That kind of hypocrisy in our governing class is worth exposing — regardless of which party commits it.

Put that aside for a moment, though, and consider the question: Did Kious actually “set up” Pelosi? Take a watch of this interview and others Kious has given, and it seems like a very dubious explanation. Kious hardly comes across as Machiavellian, or even all that interested in publicity. It seems much more likely that Kious just got angry after watching the surveillance video of Pelosi flouting the rules she’s demanding — rules that were already killing Kious’ business — without any accountability. Unfortunately, Kious should have known that getting into the arena meant facing off against lions and bloodthirsty crowds, especially against a home-team favorite like Pelosi.

What happens now? CBS News notes that the GoFundMe project explicitly advertised that Kious would relocate the business, and clearly it foresaw a need to get out of Frisco to do so:

“I wish I could personally thank every person who sent me their prayers, words of encouragement and support, especially at a time when so many are struggling to make ends meet in their own lives,” Kious wrote in a letter posted Tuesday by the host of the GoFundMe. She thanked her daughters, their “loving dad,” and her family and friends.

The GoFundMe page claims to be set up by a friend of Kious and her family. It states, “At the conclusion of this fundraiser, ALL donations will go directly to Erica to pay off any debts from the business that she is forced to shut down, expenses to relocate and reopen in a new location.” …

After Pelosi said the salon owed her “an apology for setting [me] up,” Kious said the accusation was “absolutely false,” claiming she has had her surveillance cameras for five years and adding that Pelosi’s stylist is an independent contractor renting space in the salon. Kious received support after saying she had been getting threats and is thinking of relocating her business.

“I am very humbled and grateful to have received such an outpouring of kindness, empathy and generosity from people I don’t even know, and from all walks of life and all sides of the political spectrum,” she said in the letter. “It’s a powerful reminder that the common things that bind us all together as Americans are far more meaningful and lasting than political and ideological differences that get so much attention and focus.”

Kious isn’t the first business owner to vote with her feet this summer over lots of different issues. She won’t be the last, either.