President Donald Trump‘s supporters met him with fire and fury this week over his possible deal with Democrats to save the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
‘Amnesty Don,’ as Breitbart dubbed him, had denied sealing a deal with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), but a deal is nonetheless in the works. Trump is calling for the Democrats to support increased border security funding in exchange for protections for immigrants brought to the United States illegally as young children, but it remains unclear whether his U.S.–Mexico border wall is in the cards.
The show of bipartisanship from Trump over one of his key campaign issues sparked the ire of his diehard supporters, causing a swift backlash against him.
Now, a handful of Trump supporters have begun burning their iconic Make America Great Again hats in protest.
It’s unclear how many people are actually lighting up their MAGA hats, but prominent voices in pro-Trump land have amplified the fiery message of dissent.
Conservative rabble rouser Ann Coulter retweeted one of the videos of a burning MAGA hat.
When @realDonaldTrump lets the swamp monsters in and shows the base the door…the base fights back -The Deplorables #MAGA #DACA #NoAmnesty pic.twitter.com/EvpyekS26y
— MAGA G (@Pandas4Trump) September 15, 2017
Breitbart, which is again led by Trump adviser Steve Bannon, led the charge in promoting the hat-burning protest, posting a story featuring these tweets (as well as the one above):
Found this by the side of the road … #amnestydon #burnmyMAGAhat pic.twitter.com/QivQ81xClG
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) September 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/ClevelandSimms/status/908481834102685696
Live in apartment, can’t burn. #AmnestyDon you broke my heart. @realDonaldTrump better look forward to retirement in 2020. #GoGetHimMueller pic.twitter.com/jdO5edLwqo
— No AMNESTY (@GregPrill) September 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/TrumpTrumpsUp/status/908388550818877440
https://twitter.com/_weese_/status/908492601891975169
Not everyone is convinced that burning MAGA hats is a great way to make their opposition to a deal on DACA, which the White House says it will end in six months.
Right now you are all doing what the anti Trump people want, do not fall for it, give Trump time! #AmnestyDon #burnmyMAGAhat
— Darren Strazek (@DarrenStrazek) September 15, 2017
Indeed, at least a few of the pictures and videos of burning MAGA hats appear to be attempts to get retweeted by Coulter or other political celebrities. And many tweeting under the #burnmyMAGAhat hashtag are clearly not supporters of President Trump.
Regardless, the frustration with Trump’s willingness to work with the Democrats on immigration is real and seemingly widespread. Coulter, who wrote a book titled In Trump We Trust, responded to the DACA deal news by calling for Trump’s impeachment.
Many others who stood by Trump through a cacophony of scandals, from the infamous Access Hollywood tape through each beat of the ongoing Russia investigation, have made it clear that agreeing to allow DACA recipients to remain in the U.S. is their red line.
Whether a deal actually goes through remains unclear, as Democrats toy with the possibility of trusting Trump to stick to his word.
