Incensed by President Trump’s seeming tack toward the center, some of his supporters are burning and trashing his “Make America Great Again” gear, posting videos on YouTube and Twitter of flaming red baseball caps.
Their biggest issue: The president’s alleged deal with the Democrats to preserve DACA, which protects the children of undocumented immigrants from deportation. Trump at first announced that DACA would be ended, but when the resulting firestorm pointed out that this would lead to the deportation of 800,000 children, he softened his language. Then he appeared to back off completely, reaching a deal with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to protect DACA in exchange for their support for increased border security.
The president’s far-right base, many of whom were initially seduced by his frequent campaign promise to build a wall on the Southern border and make Mexico pay for it, isn’t having that.
Twitter is rife with shot of barbecued and trashed gear, posted with hashtags like #AmnestyDon, #NoAmnesty, and the concise #BurnMyMAGAHat.
“When @realDonaldTrump lets the swamp monsters in and shows the base the door…the base fights back -The Deplorables #MAGA #DACA #NoAmnesty” wrote one.
When @realDonaldTrump lets the swamp monsters in and shows the base the door…the base fights back -The Deplorables #MAGA #DACA #NoAmnesty pic.twitter.com/EvpyekS26y
— MAGA G (@Pandas4Trump) September 15, 2017
“Either drain the swamp or you will never make America great again,” said one Red Hot Chili Peppers fan:
Dear @realdonaldtrump pic.twitter.com/CX0VRMOxJB
— Luis Withrow (@_weese_) September 15, 2017
The #BurnMyMAGAHat hashtag was co-opted by the critics of Trump’s critics (normally just “Trump’s critics”):
“The reaction of folks who didn’t care that Trump hurt others, but freak when he turns on you #BurnMyMAGAHat,” wrote @LuvMultimedia.
The reaction of folks who didn’t care that Trump hurt others, but freak when he turns on you #BurnMyMAGAHat
— Alicia Norman (@LuvMultimedia) September 15, 2017
“Am I getting this right?” wrote @Happygirlio. “So the racists who put a racist in the WH are angry because he’s not racist enough? #Deplorables #burnmyMAGAhat”
Am I getting this right? So the racists who put a racist in the WH are angry because he’s not racist enough? #Deplorables #burnmyMAGAhat pic.twitter.com/H8yB9fNfxa
— ViktoriA ☆ (@Happygirlio) September 15, 2017
@OccupyNachos imagined Captain America’s reaction:
Looking at the #burnmyMAGAhat posts like pic.twitter.com/SeLkgF1mau
— Pumpkin Spicy Chris (@OccupyNachos) September 15, 2017
There has been speculation that Trump reached out to Schumer and Pelosi after failing to score any major legislative accomplishments in Congress. But the actual parameters of any deal — and its existence at all — are unclear.
After a Thursday night dinner meeting with Trump, Pelosi and Schumer released a statement saying, “We agreed to enshrine the protections of DACA into law quickly, and to work out a package of border security, excluding the wall, that’s acceptable to both sides.”
That night, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted that the wall was still in play. The next day, Trump tweeted statements that didn’t clarify the matter, but he said that he didn’t support “throw[ing] out good, educated and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military.”
Responding on Friday to allegations that there was no apparent deal at all, Pelosi told her caucus, “We made a deal to make a deal. We made a deal to go forward,” Politico reported.
This week is still young.
