CNN guest: ‘I am triggered, I’m so triggered’ by MAGA hats

The hat, she said, is a symbol of President Trump’s policies — policies she said are bigoted.

“This ‘Make America Great Again’ hat is just as maddening and frustrating and triggering for me to look at as a KKK hood. That is the type of hatred his policies represent,” Rye said, referring to the signature white hoods of the violent white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan.

Rye’s comments come in the wake of an incident between a boisterous group of teenagers from Kentucky’s private all-boys Covington Catholic High School, many wearing the MAGA hats, and a Native American elder and veteran, Nathan Phillips, who was singing and playing a drum. Video of the incident went viral over the weekend, sparking criticism of the high school group’s behavior and backlash against what some saw as a rush to judgment.

“Until we can have common ground and understanding about that, it’s that triggering, we’re going to continue to have problems,” she said to fellow guest Andre Bauer, a Republican and former South Carolina lieutenant governor.

The term “triggered” comes from mental healthcare, where it originally described things that can set off a patient’s post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms such as feelings of fear or a flashback of the trauma. It is now used colloquially to mean experiencing a strong negative reaction or being offended.