My friend was physically assaulted for wearing a Trump hat at a Purim party in Washington, D.C. I watched it happen. A guy walked over from behind and flipped his cap off because it said “Trump” on the back of it. “You voted for Trump!” he yelled.
I was dying of laughter because I knew my friend is a very liberal Democrat who was only trolling. But as he turned around to try to respectfully explain he was wearing the hat as his costume, his (probably intoxicated) assaulter began taking jabs at his chest. The guy was livid. The rabbi who was there had to step in between them and assure them that they can wear whatever hat they liked on Purim, regardless of their politics.
I, on the other hand, was dressed up as a Women’s March attendee. That was also a joke, as anybody who knows me knows I am far from sympathetic to the radical Women’s March agenda.
Nevertheless, I received a lot of love for my ‘pussy’ hat, which several people assumed was worn in seriousness. It was somewhat funny to watch and upsetting at the same time. I realized how much some people hate my politics.
“I love your hat,” a girl told me emphatically, then turned to my friend and told him she hoped he wasn’t wearing his hat seriously because Donald Trump hates Jews and wants to kill all of us. “I was gonna ask you, how are you Jewish?” she said.
I know I am likely upsetting my liberal friend with this post. He didn’t want this story publicized as a talking point for conservatives, and that is understandable. But I will not let a story like this go unreported, because it affects me personally.
It affects me when I watch Jews being told they can’t support a Republican president because of identity politics, and it affects me when I watch violence against conservatives pushed under the rug in the name of ‘social justice.’ I would hope any truthful person would do the same if the roles were reversed.
