On a day when students were encouraged to celebrate their American pride, a New Hampshire high school student says she was told to remove or cover up her President Donald Trump T-shirt.
Epping High School freshman Ciretta MacKenzie says she was taken out of class Monday by Principal Brian Ernest.
"He just kind of gave me a speech saying, 'we don't want church and state being mixed, and that Trump is very controversial and we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings,'" recalled MacKenzie.
The 15-year-old said she didn't think wearing the Make America Great Again shirt would be an issue on a day that celebrated American pride.
"I wore this in middle school a couple times," she said. "I never had an issue. There were a bunch of kids wearing a lot of Trump gear."
Ernest told MacKenzie she wasn't in trouble but needed to find a different shirt to wear.
MacKenzie complied with the request and ended up putting on a sweatshirt to cover up the shirt.
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Rose MacKenzie, Ciretta's mother, said she's not upset with the principal or the school but says what happened is an example of today's political climate.
"What happened on Monday is a symptom. It's not the disease," Rose MacKenzie said. "The disease is the fact that nobody respects anybody else's opinions."
NBC10 Boston reached out to Ernest and Superintendent Valerie McKenney but have not heard back.
School board Chairman Dave Mylott told the Union Leader he was aware of the issue and plans to address it at a meeting April 18.
