You would think that in 2025, wearing a MAGA hat to a St. Louis soccer game wouldn’t cause a ripple. After all the headlines, viral moments, and culture-shifting reversals coming out of Trump’s second term, it should be no big deal. Plus, this is supposed to be America.
We’ve seen Sidney Sweeney trigger entire think pieces just by putting on blue jeans. We’ve seen a massive shift in public sentiment. Common sense is back in style. But apparently, someone forgot to tell Major League Soccer.
Michael Weitzel learned that the hard way.
On July 26, at a St. Louis City SC soccer game at Energizer Park, Weitzel took his seat wearing the now-infamous red hat stamped with the words “Make America Great Again.” There were about 25 minutes left in the match when security approached him. He wasn’t being disruptive. There were no flags, no chants, no political outbursts—just a hat. The wrong one. That alone was enough for security to escort him out of the stadium.
Turns out, it wasn’t security that spotted the hat; it was another fan. Someone in the crowd apparently got their feelings hurt mid-game and tattled. One red hat was too much for their delicate sensibilities, so they ran to security like it was preschool. That single complaint is what kicked off the whole thing. Weitzel wasn’t yelling, waving signs, or causing a scene. He was just sitting there. But one triggered spectator couldn’t handle it. Since when do we let the most fragile person in the room set the rules for everyone else?
A paying fan, at a public sports event, got kicked out because someone didn’t like his hat.
A man got kicked out of @stlCITYsc game for wearing a MAGA hat. He asked why they allowed pride flags everywhere and they had no answer. This is happening in 2025. Absolute absurdity. The backlash to STL city sc should be immense and severe. pic.twitter.com/ZlXUkn9QcN
— T.J. Moe (@TJMoe28) August 2, 2025
The clip of Weitzel getting kicked out has since gone viral. In it, you can hear the disbelief in his voice. “I didn’t do anything,” he says, calmly. And he didn’t. No altercations. No outbursts. Just the hat.
But maybe Mr. Weitzel missed the fine print. According to the soccer club’s website, the stadium doesn’t allow political banners, flags, or signs. So technically, if he wanted to wear his Make America Great Again hat, he should’ve submitted it for approval. Pre-approved political hats. What are we even doing here? And really, do you think they would have approved it? Not a chance.
But why is it even considered a political hat in the first place? It says Make America Great Again. Is that now controversial? Do people not want that? Are we really at the point where a message about loving your country gets treated like hate speech?
And what about the other hats and shirts people wear? You can stroll into a stadium wearing phrases like Love is Love, No Human is Illegal, or Silence is Violence, and no one bats an eye. Vague slogans that are clearly political get a free pass so long as they align with the right ideology. But Make America Great Again? That’s where the line gets drawn? This is still America, you should be able to wear what you want. But private corporations, bloated with DEI policies, have turned common sense into a compliance test.
I don’t usually attend soccer games, but if for some bizarre reason I did and wore my T-shirt that defines what a woman is, would I be kicked out like Michael Weitzel for not getting it “pre-approved”? Is this what America is now?
Here’s the kicker: the stadium’s fan code of conduct doesn’t actually ban hats. It doesn’t even mention clothing at all. The rules focus on signs, banners, and flags used for political campaigning—nothing about what you wear. So Michael Weitzel didn’t break a clear policy. Someone just decided his hat was too political to tolerate. That’s not enforcement. That’s interpretation. And funny how that interpretation always seems to swing one direction.
Yes, we are winning. Culturally, legally, and politically, the tides are shifting. Trump is back in the White House. The media can’t keep control of the narrative. Voters are waking up. But don’t mistake momentum for a mandate. There are still institutions that want to control what you wear, what you say, and what you think.
The fact that anyone has to fear wearing a beanie, a T-shirt, or even a hat in public because it might lead to harassment or removal should terrify all of us. And yet we’re supposed to pretend it’s normal.
This story didn’t come out of California or New York. This happened in the heartland. Missouri. Flyover country. If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere. And it does.
Some of us have already experienced the quieter forms of this intolerance. The HR documents that force you to affirm what you don’t believe. Case in point: Sign this form agreeing that if we hire a man in a dress, you’ll play along. The subtle threats that come with noncompliance. It’s not always a viral video or a stadium escort.
Michael Weitzel wore a hat. That was it. And for that, he was kicked out.
Some shrug and say, “Well, the stadium has a fan code of conduct.” As if that makes it reasonable. Since when did Americans need pre-approval to wear a hat to a sporting event? The very idea of a clothing policy this rigid, especially for fans in the stands, is absurd on its face.
But even more absurd is how selectively it’s enforced. The pride flags stay. The progressive slogans are welcomed. Social justice patches, rainbow armbands, identity gear, it’s all fine, no questions asked. Sometimes even mandated during June. But wear something as dangerous as Make America Great Again, and suddenly it’s a compliance issue. Why is patriotism considered political, but activism isn’t?
We’ve seen this before. Parents and students wore XX wristbands to school sporting events to quietly affirm that women are real and biology matters. For that, they were treated like a public threat. Some were even banned from campus. Silent, respectful dissent is now branded as extremism while drag queens in kindergarten classrooms are celebrated as inclusion.
What makes it worse is how easily people justify it. Instead of calling it out, they shrug and say, “Well, those are the rules.” As if obedience is always noble. But following bad rules doesn’t make you mature—it makes you manageable. That’s the point.
If freedom of speech doesn’t include clothing, quiet protest, or support for a former president, then we’re not living in a free society. We’re living under enforced conformity. And that should bother everyone regardless of politics.
Remember that teenager in the MAGA hat who stood still while a Native American activist got in his face at the Lincoln Memorial? The media tore him apart. Called him aggressive, racist, smug—you name it. He sued for defamation and walked away with a pile of settlements. I wonder what he’s doing now. Probably enjoying the millions he got for staying calm while the country lost its mind over a red hat.
I hope Michael Weitzel sues the pants off them. And the DOJ might be backing him up. They’re reportedly looking into whether his removal broke federal law. Good. If the stadium wants a dress code, fine, but it should apply to everyone. Pride flags and activist slogans get in because they’re “pre-approved.” But a MAGA hat? That’s too dangerous? Please. And let’s not forget, it’s soccer. Fans fall over from a breeze. If a red hat rattled the whole section, the issue isn’t the fan. It’s the soft, selective nonsense we’ve come to accept as normal.
This MAGA hat St. Louis soccer game story is more than a viral moment. It’s a warning.
Michael Weitzel should not have been removed from that game. Not because he’s special. But because he’s an American.
And if that sounds old-fashioned, maybe the hat was more right than we realized.
Feature Image: Personal Photo
Scott says: Sue them hard enough to make their ancestors feel it… until the financial pain is real for these thugs, this will not end.
Take no prisoners! There has to be a law firm that will take the case pro bono..
draigh says: Hmmmm. Sounds like a lawsuit to protect his First Amendment rights!
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