So, I have never been a fan of the MAGA hat from an aesthetic point of view. I have no problem with ball caps, but don’t like ones that have gigantic domes (they remind me of those foam trucker ones from the 70s, an era I do not associate with a fashion sense). Further, they just look cheap to me, if not downright goofy (especially when worn with a suit and tie). Beyond that, of course, as any reader of this site knows, I am not a fan of the MAGA movement in terms of politics.
Still, I will doff my cap to whoever thought up and marketed those hats. They are one of the most effective campaign/political symbols that I can think of in my lifetime of observing politics. Indeed, it may be the most effective with the Obama Hope symbols coming in second. Perhaps my memory is failing me, but I can think of no significant symbology from Carter, Reagan, either Bush, nor Biden. Indeed, “I Like Ike” buttons are the only other such example I can conjure.
However, none of that is the point.
The point is that Trump and Musk keep wearing the hats while engaging in official White House business (as per the photo at the top).
Here’s a variation from his trip to Californian to survey wildfire damage.
Here’s Musk in that infamous Oval Office press conference.
I find this noteworthy because the President of the United States, who is not only head of government but ceremonial head of state, is running around not wearing symbols of his office, or of the country, but is wearing his own personal brand. It is a partisan symbol. It is like if Biden had run around with a Democratic Party hat all the time. Or, really, if Obama had had the Hope poster on his head. It is a not-so-subtle assertion of party and person over country and office.
And for Musk to run around with that hat all over the place is symbolic of his allegiance to Trump, not to the Constitution/US government (which is what we should expect from federal functionaries, including advisors to the president).
Side note: where were all the scolds in the GOP, who used to perpetuate the myth that Reagan wouldn’t even take off his jacket in the Oval Office? Surely Musk’s get-up, not to mention his unwillingness to remove his hat indoors? Do I have to mention Obama’s tan suit?
On one level, this topic is the least of it at the moment. But I still think it is worth noting, because it is just another subversion of the presidency and a clear example of personalistic politics.
And look! Bonus hats.
