Balanced rakishly on my late grandmother’s china parrot is a MAGA hat bought in 2016 when it seemed highly improbable that Trump would beat the walking pantsuit, Hillary. Much like my Vote Leave badge, I bought it as a piece of provocative fast-fashion and my ever-expanding archive of political merchandise from the last decade. I also own a ‘Forward’ Obama cap from his 2012 campaign, purchased when I lived in the States, but it didn’t make the parrot.

The MAGA hat’s genius lies in its simplicity: it does exactly what it says on the brim

Fast forward eight years and Granny’s parrot is still a cap-wearing Trump supporter. Over the years, it has elicited various responses from house guests; some laugh and ask to put it on, some notice but look pointedly away, and some (mostly children) just plonk it on their heads and run off. Now Trump is seeking a second term, it is staying firmly put. Someone recently reported to me that they saw a man wearing a MAGA hat in Clacton and I, myself, spotted one in........

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