MAGA Hats Have Become a Divisive 'Us Vs. Them' Symbol: Fashion Critic
*By Chloe Aiello*
President Trump's "Make America Great Again" cap is more than just a hat, it's a "symbol of us vs. them," according to Washington Post fashion editor Robin Givhan.
"No fashion item is completely separate from the broader culture. It doesn't exist in a vacuum and so the way that people respond to it, the way it's read by others, is equally as potent if not more so than the intent of the wearer," Givhan said.
Givhan [penned a column](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-maga-hat-is-not-a-statement-of-policy-its-an-inflammatory-declaration-of-identity/2019/01/23/9fe84bc0-1f39-11e9-8e21-59a09ff1e2a1_story.html?utm_term=.ec3a75c53f4e) last week about what the hat has come to mean in the years since it burst on the scene as a campaign accessory for Trump's 2016 presidential bid. The hat, she wrote, has become "a symbol of us vs. them, of exclusion and suspicion, of garrulous narcissism, of white male privilege, of violence and hate."
Her commentary follows a recent controversy in which the hat took center stage. Catholic schoolboys in MAGA hats, a Native American elder, and black nationalists collided at the March for Life in Washington, D.C., in a video that went viral. In an interview on "Today" after the incident, the student at the center of the controversy, Nick Sandmann, acknowledged that the presence of his hat may have escalated tensions.
Fashion has historically been used to make political statements ー last year alone saw women in Tehran, Iran, removing their headscarves in protest of compulsory hijab laws, as well as celebrities at the Golden Globes wearing all black in solidarity with the #MeToo movement. But in the era of the pink pussy hats and the Black Lives Matter t-shirts, the red MAGA hat has emerged as the most divisive accessory of all. And Givhan argues it is inherently different that these other politically charged items.
"The Black Lives Matter t-shirts and the pink pussy hats, those were being worn by a group of people who were not at the top of the pyramid in terms of our society. They were people striving to better their rights and ... gain greater equality, versus the 'Make America Great' hat, which doesn't have that sort of duality of the oppressed versus the oppressor," Givhan said.
She added that the hats have been weaponized by some who have worn them, including white supremacists at the deadly Charlottesville, Va., rally. When someone wears a MAGA hat today, they're implicitly supporting more than Trump's policies, Givhan said.
"There are definitely reasonable policy differences that are expressed by people who wear that hat, but I think the larger connotation says, 'I am willing to concede that my policy wins are worth it, despite all of these other negative ramifications,'" she said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/washington-post-columnist-calls-maga-hats-a-declaration-of-identity).
Matt Hayden, vice president of govtech solutions at Exiger and a former assistant secretary of cyber at Department of Homeland Security, joined Cheddar to discuss the surprise phone call initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to President Joe Biden, ahead of January security talks about the rising tensions over Ukraine. "We're hoping to hear that we're able to talk about the aggression and the leadup of the Ukrainian militarization," Hayden said. "But we're also looking to hear is how the Kremlin leveraged their talking points to try to test their negotiation stance with the United States leading into this January 10th meeting."
The No Surprises Act begins implementation on January 1, 2022. The legislation is meant to curb the practice of unexpected billing for care from providers the patient was unaware were out-of-network from their insurance. Patricia Kelmar, director of health care campaigns for U.S. PIRG joined Cheddar to describe the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars charged to unsuspecting patients and how things will change under the new law. "If we are picking an in-network doctor and an in-network hospital, we should not see those added costs from anesthesiologists, radiologists, scrub-in surgeons," she said. "The other area it protects you is in air ambulances — not ground ambulances, unfortunately — but the helicopters or the airplanes you might need to transport you in an emergency situation."
President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladmir Putin are expected to have another conversation surrounding escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Ariel Cohen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, joined Cheddar's Ken Buffa to discuss the ongoing tensions and why Putin's request for a conversation with Biden comes now. "This is very serious. This is the worst security crisis we had since the collapse of the Soviet Union," Cohen told Cheddar.
Stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, but two indexes - the Dow and the S&P 500 - ended the session with a new record. Akshata Bailkeri, Equity Analyst at Bruderman Asset Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she says there is a consensus for robust consumer spreading in 2022, especially as the Omicron variant is proving to be milder than other COVID-19 strains.
John Quelch, Dean of Miami Herbert Business School, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the retail giant is acting in accordance to President Biden's new law banning goods from China's Xinjiang region. Quelch also elaborates on the importance of China in Walmart's overall strategy.
