understand like why a specific symbol might be offensive
i see all the make america great again hats so that's that's a good crowd those are good hats
I hit the streets of my home town of Lawrence, Kansas asking people what they thought about
this symbol. What better place to do this than the middle of the country, amirite?
i just want to get your opinion i'm just going to show you the object
and i just want to get your reaction what this object symbolizes to you okay
okay do you recognize this symbol definitely okay you recognize this
yeah yes i recognize that yes yes i recognize that i've never seen anyone in the wild before though
okay you know you know like in the bible they say like the
like the mark of the beast would be bestowed upon the people what does this symbolize to you
what does this object symbolize to you uh a very bad president um trump that obviously
symbolizes trump's um 2016 campaign presidential campaign should never been president that's all
i'm going to say basically trump trump's whole fan group yeah his choice full presidency really and
i don't know the controversy behind it anything more than that though i would say populism
american populism make america great again symbolizes something that i think is outstanding
uh i love it it's vague i think there's there isn't much concrete there it's just vague populism
make america great again is a wonderful um wonderful slogan it's it's positive it's
thinks it's inclusive but if you dig deeper it's the exact opposite you know people had
good intentions trying to come out with that but i think it was kind of offensive and
you know it's it's again i think a crowd uses that like as a symbol of something that's probably
a little bit of a stretched idea like even this message make america great again even do you think
even that message alone is like always associated just with him uh yeah because really instead of
doing things make actually making us positive it actually we went so far back that that's like
assuming that america's not great anymore and that there's specific reasons about our culture right
now that aren't great it symbolizes um racism ignorance and hate for those who honestly didn't
care about getting their facts right elitism the unwillingness to change and the unwillingness
to like listen to others understand like why a specific symbol might be offensive
into immigration the problem is once you wear the man something that symbolizes the man it ends
up everything that goes against what i believe that also carries everything the man represents
it's it's more of an idea rather than just for donald trump yeah if you're running
around with that hat like that's my favorite color in the world i love red as you can see
um it's the same exact bread he wasn't trying to make america great again he was trying to
make america great when it was like 60 70 years ago we we had a different society bro
we do different things now so a hat that's red do you automatically think it's this
a living yeah it's dividing of two different very polarizing uh he's been accused of so much in so
many things that it even if maybe it's not true the symbols he the symbol he is still symbolizes
those things he's been accused of a lot of people wear it just to kind of spark controversy now it's
almost a statement yeah it's like they're trolling well it's a fashionable thing almost that's what
i was oh wait wait fashion how's i never heard that actually before why is it fascinating it's
controversy everybody wants their outfit to like say something and somebody kind of gets a reaction
from it so if you wear that obviously you're going to have someone like you know like i am right now
And yes, today the “Make America Great Again” hat is a very controversial symbol in the
United States. But why? It seems harmless. In fact, it seems kind of nice on the surface.
“Make America Great Again.” Speaking as an American, I think every American can agree
that we want our country to be great. Although that word “again.” It IS a bit loaded, ain’t it?
Well, first of all, it was controversial for me to just buy one of these things.
Just putting on one of these hats can be one of the most dangerous things to do. (hesitating)
Well, I’m wearing the hat, but what does that really mean?
Well I can tell you one thing. Just wearing it will get you some really dirty looks.
But it also can get you some high fives,
and possibly save you from getting beat up by an angry biker.
So let’s go into some background
behind this hat and the slogan on it. Shannon: Matt, why are you wearing that?
Take that off. Ok, sorry.
So variations of the slogan “Make America Great Again” have been around for awhile. For example,
many of you watching right now are probably already familiar with Ronald Reagan’s 1980
presidential campaign in which used the slogan “Let’s make America great again.” But before that,
some Barry Goldwater supporters advertised a similar slogan when he ran for President in 1964.
Yeah, but Bill, what about this?
Yeah, when he first ran for President he said it in multiple speeches.
Many don’t know this, but the association of “Make America Great Again” with Donald Trump goes back
as early as January 1, 2012. That was when some Trump supporters filed paperwork in Texas to
create the “Make America Great Again Party” with hopes that he would run as a third-party candidate
in the presidential election of 2012. Well, Trump didn’t run for President that year, but after the
election he started using the slogan regularly both online and in person. He even got the slogan
trademarked, although apparently not exclusively on merchandise. After noticing that he failed to
do this, Bobby Bones, a well known radio and TV personality and Dancing with the Stars winner,
bought the rights to sell the slogan on apparel. He sold all “Make America Great Again” apparel
through his own company and gave all the profits to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He also
called out Trump publicly, saying he’d give up the exclusive rights to the merchandise if Trump
donated $100,000 to St. Jude. Apparently, Trump actually did this, and on November 11th, 2015,
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office made the transfer official. By that time, Trump
had been campaigning for President for several months and was using the slogan more and more.
And soon, the Make America Great Again red hat, or MAGA hat, became the quickest and most
iconic way to show the world that you not only supported his campaign, but you fully supported
him. He even regularly wore the MAGA hats, and they became so important to his campaign
for President that at one point his team spent more money making the hats than on
anything else. That included even on TV commercials. And they sold the hats for $25.
Despite the price, millions of people bought the hats, and they became easily identifiable not just
because of the slogan on them. In fact, as the election came closer, you could be walking down
the street with ANY red hat on, and people might assume you were a Donald Trump fan.
Even before Trump won the election, he had started thinking about another, brilliant new slogan in
case he ran for re-election. It was “Keep America Great.” And while he famously began filing
the paperwork to be an official candidate for re-election the day he was sworn in as President,
many don’t know that Trump trademarked “Keep America Great” two days before that.
But the MAGA hats and the “Make America Great Again” slogan were so popular that
Trump and his campaign team continued to use them. For the first few months of his Presidency,
he Tweeted the slogan dozens of times. Throughout his Presidency, he also repeated the slogan over
And over And over again.
In fact, four years later, instead of ending his convention speech with
“Keep America Great,” Vice President Mike Pence just said this instead...
Meanwhile, some critics called “Make America Great Again” a loaded phrase since they viewed it as
coded language, meaning it nostalgically longed for a time when those who formerly had power and
status could once again have it returned. In other words, bring back the status quo of the old times.
Trump’s supporters argued that that was a bunch of bullcrap. They said it was just nostalgic for
the time when the country had higher status in the world, and they had a point since,
according to many metrics, the United States had fallen behind compared to several other
countries when it came to education, healthcare, and economic opportunity.
Regardless, the MAGA hat had also become a quick and easy way to troll
critics of Trump. Just putting it on could make Trump haters upset. When the musician
Kanye West met with Trump at the White House wearing the hat,
he may have said that it made him feel like Superman, but many folks were disappointed
seeing him wearing it. Many folks were also quick to judge a Kentucky high school student named
Nick Sandmann and his friends standing next to him when several filmed him staring down
an Omaha tribe leader named Nathan Phillips in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
on January 18, 2019. Many watched the footage in disgust at Sandmann and his friends,
even though they knew hardly anything about the kids or the context of the confrontation.
As soon as the hat went on, people made assumptions, but perhaps it is easy to
understand why. There were multiple critics of Trump who later expressed support of him
through the one simple gesture of putting on the MAGA hat. (Glenn Beck and Dave Rubin)
Even at the end of his Presidency, Trump was Tweeting “Make America Great Again.” In fact,
here is his last Tweet before Twitter suspended his account:
“The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me,
AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future.
They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!"
Today, the Make America Great Again hat is THE most recognized symbol of Donald
Trump’s Presidency. It has become a pop culture phenomenon, and it is evidence of the marketing
genius of Trump. That hat’s success has not been replicated in ANY other presidential campaign,
although it has surely been tried. It proves that Trump has been able to get his message
out better than any of his rivals, and it even turned into a movement. The MAGA
hat is also evidence that fashion is such a powerful way of quickly revealing an identity.
Today, even wearing ANY kind of red baseball cap is too iffy to wear due to
fear of association with Trump. Similar to the Confederate flag, to some the MAGA hat
has become a symbol of racism, mostly due to them thinking Trump himself is racist. In addition,
some have argued that some of his policies are racist. And Trump was a historically unpopular
and controversial President, especially after he refused to accept the results after losing
the 2020 presidential election. Many argue his words heavily influenced the mob of his
supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. So basically, if you think Trump and
his policies are horrible, it’s no surprise you’re going to be immediately repulsed by the MAGA hat.
As rumors of a possible 2024 presidential run swirl, the MAGA hat continues to sell well,
but it also continues to be quite controversial to a point where
I was nervous just holding one up on the street, even though I was in Kansas.
a special shout out to my friend dan for helping me film this video
But what do you think? What does the MAGA hat mean to YOU? When you see anyone wearing a red hat,
do you just now just assume they’re a Trump supporter? Let me know in the comments. Also,
this video has a twin, a companion video if you will. I also did a similar video about
a symbol more distant in American history, the Confederate battle flag. I asked those same folks
on the street about it. I recommend checking that one out next. Oh, and there is no doubt that both
of these videos are getting demonetized, so thanks so much to all the fine individuals
you see on the screen right now for supporting me on Patreon. See you over on the other video?