Patron at Captain Baxter bar in St Kilda told to remove Donald Trump MAGA cap for inciting ‘political trouble’
A bar patron has been left stunned after being told to remove his red Donald Trump Make America Great Again cap because it was inciting “political trouble”.
Victoria
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A popular St Kilda venue has come under fire after it threatened to kick out a regular patron if he refused to take off his red Donald Trump MAGA cap.
Angelo Notta, 45, was celebrating a friend’s birthday at Captain Baxter on Australia Day when he was approached by the venue manager and told to remove the cap which famously reads ‘Make American Great Again’.
“I rocked up at 5.30pm, sat down at a table and probably 10 minutes in the venue manager came up to me and said ‘I need you to remove your hat’,” Mr Notta told the Herald Sun.
“I said ‘since when is there a no hat policy’ but he said ‘it’s not that, it’s what’s on the hat’. “He said that it was inciting ‘political trouble’.
“I was told I needed to remove it or I’m going to be kicked out. I was embarrassed. I was getting quite upset.
“It’s just stupid to be getting offended by a hat. Everyone has a right to having an opinion, respectfully, without the fear of being cancelled. It’s basically like we’re bowing down to a minority.”
Not wanting to cause a scene, Mr Notta took the hat off.
“I had to put up with a bad hair day,” he laughed.
“I’m a single guy, I gave it a mingle but your confidence is always a bit down when you’ve got shit hair.”
Security later pounced again when one of his friends put the hat on again after a few drinks.
“It’s like they were just watching the hat the whole time,” he said.
“It was just unheard of. It’s a red hat.”
His friend removed the hat.
Mr Notta said he was a loyal customer of Captain Baxter and had attended the venue for a Sunday session every week since last November.
And it was not the first time that he’d worn his MAGA cap.
“I’m not shy on spending a dollar there — I haven’t spent anything less than $500 for the day, sometimes more,” he said.
“What if I was wearing a Kamala hat? Would they do the same thing? If I had a Free Palestine T-shirt, is that OK?”
Mr Notta said the ordeal had left a “bad taste in his mouth”.
In Victoria it is against the law to discriminate against a person because they support, or don’t support, a certain political party.
Captain Baxter is owned by the company Melbourne Hospitality People.
On its website, Captain Baxter states that it is a “place free from discrimination, where we respect and celebrate the diversity of our communities”.
The Herald Sun has contacted both Captain Baxter and Melbourne Hospitality People for comment.
The MAGA cap stoush is the latest controversy to hit a St Kilda venue after pub giant Australian Venue Co — which owns St Kilda’s famous Espy hotel — faced widespread community backlash for refusing to recognise Australia Day.
The pub giant, which was previously forced to apologise about a controversial Australia Day celebration ban, sparked a new backlash when it encouraged Aussies to simply celebrate the “long weekend”.
Originally published as Patron at Captain Baxter bar in St Kilda told to remove Donald Trump MAGA cap for inciting ‘political trouble’
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