Photo courtesy of Guy Fiorita
The red Make America Great Again hat can identify a Donald Trump supporter from miles away. It’s become a symbol for Trump supporters across the country to spot each other. Guy Fiorita, creator of True Blue American apparel, decided it was time for democrats to have that same symbol of unity. Fiorita is a UW-Madison graduate, born and raised in Milwaukee. For 27 years, he lived abroad in Spain. In 2013, he moved back to Milwaukee, and is now married with two sons. He works as a freelance writer and editor and is a senior copywriter for a local business.
Now, he’s selling his blue True Blue American hats with 10% of profit going to the Get Out the Vote Campaign.
What inspired you to create the True Blue American apparel? When did the project first begin?
For years I have been tired of how the conservatives have tried to co-opt things like patriotism, religion, the military—even country music. They act as if they are the defenders of American values and ideals, when, in fact, they back a man who has no moral fiber and who clearly does not understand the ideals on which America was founded. Moral majority. Are you kidding? Grab them by the pu**y, mocking a disabled reporter, shame university and charity. They claim to American but overlook Trump's attempts to undermine the election process and his botched handling of COVID-19 that has cost thousands of lives and jobs. And through all of his lies, tweets, childish name calling and everything else he does that’s unfitting of the office of the president, they still support him. The hypocrisy is astounding.
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Then one night, I was watching the local news, and an old grade school friend was being interviewed to give the GOP version of events of a news story. There he was, wearing that red MAGA hat. I knew he had put that thing on just for the interview. He wanted to send out a message to the troops. It was clearly a rallying call to every mouth breather in the viewing area.
I realized that no matter how you feel about that red hat, it affected the 2016 campaign. Wearing it created team spirit. It showed unity. It made people feel they belong to something. I knew then that we needed a hat to do the same. True Blue American came to me and it just felt right. It is time to show who really defends the American ideals of inclusion, equality and integrity. Time to show that we are the real patriots. True Blue Americans was born.
Why did you choose the name True Blue American?
The color blue, of course, symbolizes the Democratic Party, but more importantly the phrase True Blue means unwavering in one’s commitment: dedicated, extremely loyal, devoted and steadfast. It’s a strong, positive and patriotic message. It’s unifying, alienates no one, and can be worn by people on both sides of the political divide. And it is our own. We are the Democratic Party, the party of Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Obama. We stand for unity, equality and fair play. We are American and we are patriotic. Our message must reflect who we are. True Blue Americans.
What are your hopes/goals for the future of True Blue American?
I hope that this hat does for the Democratic Party, and really anyone who feels Trump is a danger to our democracy, what the MAGA hat did for theirs. I would love for True Blue American to become the rallying cry for all of those opposed to having an amoral, dishonest, nihilistic coward sitting in the oval office.
Why do you believe it is so important to vote?
Apart from being our duty as citizens, I would point to how close the last election was, especially in Wisconsin. Your vote counts, and as we’ve seen with three years of being led by a bunker boy, it really does matter too.
What values do the True Blue American logo stand for?
Equality, integrity, inclusion, fair play, standing up for the little guy and fighting for what’s right. The values that made American great and that we should all aspire to.
What impact do you hope True Blue American has?
I would love to think that it had some small role, no matter how minute, in defeating Trump in November.
For more, visit www.trueblueamericans.com
