On CNN on Thursday, hosts Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon discussed the new policy (and minor media kerfuffle) of a chef in California who announced on social media he won’t be serving food to people who wear MAGA hats.

“It’s a hat with four words on it, but they can mean a lot to people,” said Cuomo to open the segment. “Talking about the president’s MAGA hat. Now we hear of a chef in San Mateo, California saying ‘you wear that hat into my place you’re not getting service.'”

He introduced and then turned to Lemon for comment.

“So here’s how I see it,” said Lemon. “I think people should be able to wear whatever they want. Right? I don’t like banning. I don’t like boycotting. I don’t like people getting fired for making just what’s honest mistakes. But I do say when you– your clothing tells a story? And if you put certain symbols in your home or in front of your house, whatever, things tell stories and you should be aware of the entire story that they tell, not just the little part of it that you want to be told.”

“But I don’t like the idea of banning someone for wearing a hat,” he repeated, “but that hat, as we have said, it’s no secret, I told you about how I feel and many people perceive that hat.”

Lemon was referring to his comments that the hats “carry a certain connotation that provokes a conditioned reaction from many people, especially from marginalized people,” which he said to Cuomo after the story about the Covington Catholic students had begun to unravel.

In the above exchange, Lemon asked Cuomo to clarify the legal situation. “It’s legal, right? You’re the attorney.”

“You can refuse service. You know, no shirt no shoes no service. Now you’d have a counter first amendment argument. You’re chilling my rights. It’s a private place,” said Cuomo. “Well then, how is this any different than the baker with the cake?”

Cuomo answered his own question. “Well, that was about refusing service to a group of people that should be a protected class, and unless you could argue that Trump supporters should be a protected class, I don’t think you have much of an argument on that.”

“Let’s say this isn’t so much about whether he has the right, it’s about whether or not it is right,” said Cuomo. He argued that a better analogy than refusing service in the case of the baker was a hypothetical shirt with an offensive message. “If people were wearing shirts that said ‘I hate black people,’ would he be okay to say don’t come into my place with that, and I think most people would say, ‘yeah.’ That’s how people like him see the MAGA hat.”

Lemon suggested that having a right to do something doesn’t mean you should do it. He said that a person who wears the hat because of what it means to them can’t “erase” what it means to someone else. “It just can’t be about what you want it to be about,” he said.

“I don’t like it. I don’t think it should be banned, but I understand why,” said Lemon.

“My big problem is, we’re way too focused on the divisions and not enough what brings people together,” said Cuomo to end the segment.

Update: The headline of this story has been revised to better describe the conversation.

[Featured image via screengrab]

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