--- description: A Canadian judge has apologized for his "lapse of judgement" after he wore a hat reading 'Make America Great Again' in court title: Canadian Judge Apologizes for Wearing 'Make America Great Again' Hat in Court image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Canadian Judge Apologizes for Wearing 'Make America Great Again' Hat in Court by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 15, 2016 5:16 PM CUT by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 15, 2016 5:16 PM CUT A Canadian judge has apologized for his “lapse of judgement” after he wore a [hat reading](http://time.com/4025262/tom-brady-trump-hat/ "undefined") ‘Make America Great Again’, Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, in court. Ontario judge Bernd Zabel told the Hamilton TV station [CHCH](http://www.chch.com/wrong-hamilton-judge-apologizes-wearing-trump-hat/ "undefined") that he “sincerely regrets” his decision to open court on Nov. 9—the day after the election—wearing the hat. “I wish to apologize for my misguided attempt to mark a moment in history by humor in the courtroom, following the surprising result in the United States election,” he said. He added that the gesture was not intended to be a political statement or an endorsement of the views and comments of President-elect Trump. “I acknowledge that wearing the hat is a breach of the principals of judicial office and was a lapse in judgement that I sincerely regret,” he said. Over the weekend, a city councillor in Hamilton released a statement saying he thought the judge should step down or be removed from the bench. > [](https://twitter.com/MGreenWard3/status/797244625513746432) “His actions are an embarrassment to the City of Hamilton, the Judiciary and the Canadian Legal system as a whole,” Coun. Matthew Green wrote. “If I was a person convicted by this man I’d be quickly filing for appeal.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4571662/canadian-judge-donald-trump-hat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4571662/canadian-judge-donald-trump-hat/"},"headline":"Canadian Judge Apologizes for Wearing 'Make America Great Again' Hat in Court","datePublished":"2016-11-15T17:16:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:25:29.453Z","description":"\"I acknowledge that wearing the hat is a breach of the principals of judicial office and was a lapse in judgement that I sincerely regret\"","url":"https://time.com/4571662/canadian-judge-donald-trump-hat/","keywords":["Canada","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4571662/canadian-judge-donald-trump-hat/","name":"Canadian Judge Apologizes for Wearing 'Make America Great Again' Hat in Court"}}]}] ```