Source: Washington Post
by Philip Bump
“When Donald Trump announced his presidential candidacy in June 2015, ‘Make America Great Again’ didn’t appear on any baseball caps. It was emblazoned on white T-shirts (in at least some cases) given to people hired to fill out the crowd. There was no hint, though, that the phrase would soon be a central element of the most robust attack on American democracy in 150 years. In fact, Trump’s 2016 campaign didn’t even come up with the MAGA hat. According to 2017 reporting from CNN, someone else sent an early version of the ball cap to the campaign. Trump, holding an outdoor event at the border one day, threw it on, immediately striking a chord. The hat was ‘un-designed,’ in the words of a designer who spoke with CNN, something that just sort of emerged. But it was extensible, replicable and cheap. Soon, it was unavoidable.” (04/14/25)