Award-winning author wants 'normal people' to stop wearing MAGA-like red hats: 'They are making everyone scared'
An award-winning author has found herself ridiculed on social media after she asked people to shun any type of red hat because they are "making everyone scared."
Rebecca Makkai, 41, whose book, 'The Great Believers,' was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, said in a now-viral tweet that people should completely avoid wearing red hats. "Is anyone else made really uncomfortable these days by anyone wearing any kind of red baseball cap?" she tweeted. "Like, I see one and my heart does weird shit and then I finally realize it only says Titleist or whatever. Maybe don't wear red caps anymore, normal people?"
She went on also slam people who wore parody versions of the MAGA hats and said those did more harm than good. "Also, for the love of God: The clever folks wearing 'Make America Read Again' or whatever caps -- NO," she wrote. "You're making everyone scared. Don't do it." When one of the users asked about the fans of various baseball teams such as the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and Washington Nationals whose gear includes red caps, Makkai responded, "Not worth making disenfranchised people feel unsafe."
The post, which had over 19,000 likes and 1,500 retweets, was soon flooded by users who asked Makkai to "seek help" and making a mockery of Makkai's suggestions. "I get so uncomfortable when I see someone in a red baseball cap that I immediately start shaking and I feel like I’m going to vomit," one tauntingly tweeted. "It's so bad that I only leave the house about once a month wearing sunglasses and a hoodie to get a month's worth of groceries."
"It means you need therapy," another wrote. "Lots and lots of therapy. It also means you live in a provincial false reality." Makkai hit back and tweeted, "Also I love all the people who are like “YOU CAN’T POLICE ME, LIBTARD!” Please note that I was specifically addressing “normal people.” The ones who don’t want to freak people out at a distance. The ones who enjoy it should absolutely continue letting us know who they are."
"I’m uncomfortable when cars that have really aggressive-looking grills, especially grilles resembling the open mouths of sharks, come up behind me in traffic," one user tweeted in response. "Please stop driving them normal people."
"What really bothers me is the fact I can't wear an article of clothing to exercise a 1A right without wondering if I'm going to be physically/verbally assaulted," another wrote. Makkai once again tried to clarify her stance, pointing to the example of how Hindus had stopped using the swastika publicly because of its negative connotations. "An equivalent here would be western Hindus choosing not to use the swastika symbol in public despite it being sacred to their faith because it would offend/frighten people," she wrote. "The red hat has become a symbol of hate bc of how its wearers act."