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---
title: Woman&#x27;s &#x27;America Was Never Great&#x27; Hat Sparks Online Fury
description: A photograph of a Staten Island Home Depot worker wearing a hat that reads &quot;America Was Never Great&quot; has sparked an online storm
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author: Mark Rivett-Carnac
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article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:32:31.833Z
og:title: Woman&#x27;s &#x27;America Was Never Great&#x27; Hat Sparks Online Fury
og:description: Krystal Lake has been targeted with dozens of death threats and racist abuse
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twitter:title: Woman&#x27;s &#x27;America Was Never Great&#x27; Hat Sparks Online Fury
twitter:description: Krystal Lake has been targeted with dozens of death threats and racist abuse
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# A Woman Got Dozens of Death Threats for Wearing a Hat Saying 'America Was Never Great'

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by 

[Mark Rivett-Carnac](https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/)


## Mark Rivett-Carnac


May 19, 2016 6:35 AM UTC

by 

[Mark Rivett-Carnac](https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/)


## Mark Rivett-Carnac


May 19, 2016 6:35 AM UTC

A photograph of a Home Depot worker wearing a hat that reads “America Was Never Great” [drew outrage](http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/05/home%5Fdepot-workers%5Famerica%5Fwas%5Fnever%5Fgreat%5Fhat.html) and sparked death threats and racial vilification when it went viral on Wednesday.

Krystal Lake said it was the only time she wore the hat to work at the store’s Staten Island branch was shocked by the frenzy it caused, according to local news source SILive.com.

The phrase parodies Donald Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” which is emblazoned on hats worn by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and his supporters.

Lake said the hat was meant to suggest that America “needs changing and improvement,” according to SILive.com. “I know there are a lot of opportunities here,” Lake said, “I just wish we would worry about making America better_,_ not ‘great again.’”

Despite her intentions, Lake said she has received dozens of death threats and racist abuse for expressing her political views.

\[[_SILive_](http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/05/home%5Fdepot-workers%5Famerica%5Fwas%5Fnever%5Fgreat%5Fhat.html)\]

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