NBC op-ed writer falsely claims wearing MAGA hat aligns people with literal Nazis, gets clobbered on Twitter

January 24, 2019

According to Noah Berlatsky, an opinion writer for NBC, wearing a “Make America Great Again,” or MAGA, hat aligns the wearer with literal Nazis.

Berlatsky made the ridiculous claim after he came under fire for an outrageous op-ed in which he opined that Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann basically deserved whatever he got coming to him for daring to wear the pro-Trump cap in public.

His op-ed, proudly published by NBC, which no-doubt endorses what he had to say, states:

Before he encountered Omaha elder Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial, Covington High School student Nick Sandmann had already taken steps to provoke and insult people of color. He’d put on a MAGA hat.

Sandmann’s face went viral over the weekend when footage began circulating of him and his classmates at the Lincoln Memorial. The moment has become something of a political Rorschach test that also raises thorny questions about the way various perspectives become amplified and even weaponized on social media, sometimes without the benefit of important facts. Context is key; this is something both conservatives and liberals can agree on. But in this case, that context must include what the teens were wearing — and what that apparel has come to represent.

He added:

Obviously, not everyone who wears a MAGA hat is a member of a far-right gang devoted to street violence. Nor does everyone who wears a MAGA hat insult or attack marginalized people. But everyone who wears a MAGA hat should know that they are associating themselves with Trump’s exclusionist, angry rhetoric. Everyone who wears a MAGA hat should know that many marginalized people see the hat as a symbol of hate.

In short, he argued that Sandmann deserved whatever he got because of the hat.

He tried to compare the cap to a swastika when people confronted him on Twitter:

do you think that wearing a swastika has no moral or practical implications?

You seem to think my words are dangerous and upsetting, yes? Why bother renting otherwise? https://t.co/BybotxiCNo

— Noah Berlatsky (@nberlat) January 24, 2019

Of course, the kids weren’t wearing swatikas, but that didn’t matter. I tseems that in Berlatsky’s universe, everyone with whom he disagrees is a Nazi — literally.

“I think people should be aware too that wearing a MAGA hat is aligning yourself with literal Nazis. It’s a deliberate provocation, which is likely to spark and escalate conflict. That’s what wearing them is meant to do,” he tweeted.

I think people should be aware too that wearing a MAGA hat is aligning yourself with literal Nazis. It's a deliberate provocation, which is likely to spark and escalate conflict. That's what wearing them is meant to do.

— Noah Berlatsky (@nberlat) January 24, 2019

And he doubled down with even more falsehoods:

It's associated with the president; the phrase has a meaning; it's worn al the time by actual Nazis; it's worn during the commission of hate crimes.

People know what it means. They either embrace that or don't care. Either way, it's racist. Don't want to be racist? don't wear it

— Noah Berlatsky (@nberlat) January 24, 2019

So, who are these literal Nazis Berlatsky is referring to? We don’t know, but it looks to us like he might prefer to live in a country run by someone like Josef Stalin.

*actual Nazis* Reel it in dude, you're losing the plot.

— ???? (@Smokerscough101) January 24, 2019

Once again the left shows what they know about history and actual Nazis.

— Fraunkenstine (@ristine_kevin) January 24, 2019

LOL, this is the opinion of a child written in crayon.

— Ord lang syne (@OrdyPackard) January 24, 2019

Heh. Or the opinion of a low-information left-wing propagandist working for NBC. Redundant, I know…

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