The latest example of the vitriol Trump supporters face on a daily basis across the country comes out of Tennessee, where a 50-year-old man’s birthday celebration came to an end when he was punched in the face…by a woman…because he was wearing a red hat that looked like a MAGA hat.
Retired NYPD detective Daniel Sprague was in Nashville celebrating with his wife and friends at a live music bar when a woman he didn’t know assaulted him.
“I was outside with my friends when some grabbed me from behind, spun me around and punched me in the face,” said the Staten Island resident, reports The New York Post.
“At first I thought it was a friend until I got hit. I couldn’t believe someone could get that upset.”
His hat said “Make Fifty Great Again” and he was wearing a shirt with an American flag on it that read: “Making America Great Since 1970.”
Sprague said he got mixed reactions to his hat in the hours leading up to the attack.
“All night people were giving me thumbs up, smiles or some showing rage, until they walked up close and saw what the hat said,” he explained. “Then they would wish me a happy birthday.”
Sprague said he’d never dream of reacting that way to someone who supported a politician he disagreed with.
“I love Trump, but I wouldn’t hit someone who had a Bernie hat on,” he said.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I wasn’t an Obama fan but if he walked into a place where I was, I would show him and the office respect.”
After the incident both were thrown out of the bar. Sprague filed a police report the next day and said he was waiting to hear back.
Ex-NYPD cop punched at his Nashville birthday party after red cap mistaken for MAGA hat https://t.co/lYnKko8pO3 pic.twitter.com/0poBQP18VW
— New York Post (@nypost) February 12, 2020
Last weekend, a Florida man drove his van into a Republican voter registration tent because he "does not like President Trump," according to the police report. Volunteers scrambled out of the way to avoid being struck by the vehicle. As Guy reported, this should have been a huge national story, and would have been if the roles were reversed.