By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
After fighting a cancer battle, Bernie Lake reclaimed her life while sporting her Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) hat. After breast cancer surgery, she returned to the Durango Community Recreation Center for her first post-treatment workout, determined to rebuild her strength.
Lake had been wearing her MAHA hat since July. “After the first assassination attempt on Trump, I was outraged that our political differences had gotten to such a level,” Lake said. “People need to see different political views where they live. I don’t care if you like Trump or not—we should be able to coexist.”
Silent disapproval was common. “Not one person had said a word to my face before. Plenty of snickers, plenty of side-eyes, but never anything more,” she recalled.
Cleared by her doctor, she went for a gym workout after undergoing breast cancer surgery. “I wanted to clear my head,” she said. “You get into fight mode when you go through cancer. I was looking forward to a good, long workout—with restrictions, of course—but still, something to push me forward.”
Instead she found herself exercising her First Amendment rights.
Lake was mid-workout when a man in his 60s approached her. Without warning, he got within inches of her face, screaming profanities and struck her hat twice.
“This wasn’t just like, ‘I don’t like your hat, lady,’” she said. “This was rage screaming at me.”
Other gym-goers clapped for the attacker. “I immediately turned around and pointed at them. I said, ‘Oh, you like men who hit women? That’s what you’re clapping for?’ They were stunned I called them out.”
Shocked over the assault, Lake posted about it on Twitter/X. And the post went viral, amassing over 8.3 million views in less than a week.
DURANGO, CO
— ColoradoGirl73 (@ColoradoGirl73) March 15, 2025
Verbally & Physically Accosted for my hat.
Literally minding my own business working out and an unhinged man came up and verbally accosted me, screaming at me 4 INCHES from my face, calling me every name in the book ‘f-ing B’……then, HIT MY HAT twice!
He got an… pic.twitter.com/dR2y81XPYK
The viral tweet attracted media attention from the Durango Herald, and an invitation to appear on the Bongino Report’s Nightly Scroll with Hayley Caronia.
Running a business in Durango, where far-left thinking dominates, she turned to Twitter/X as @ColoradoGirl73 to voice her thoughts without revealing her identity.
But the Durango Herald picked up the story, and revealed her name without speaking to her.
Instead of investigating the attacker, they focused on Lake’s social media. “They didn’t print his name. They didn’t dig into his history. But they combed through my social media,” Lake said.
They highlighted her pro-life views, ignored her humanitarian background and crafted a narrative to suggest she provoked the attack.
If the attack and media spin weren’t enough, the online response took an even darker turn.
In a post that shocked even those accustomed to political vitriol, Gina Roberts openly speculated whether Lake should have been sexually assaulted instead of verbally confronted.
The post, a direct response to the City of Durango’s official account, raises concerns about how violent rhetoric against conservatives is continually normalized.
Reacting to the viral response, Lake said, “This is bigger than me and one gym incident. The fact that this has gotten 8.3 million views in just a few days shows how many people are tired of this. This isn’t just a Durango problem. This is a national problem. People don’t know how to handle disagreement anymore. That’s dangerous.”
An Army veteran, Lake served as a 54 Bravo Nuclear Operations Specialist in the U.S. Army.
“I served in the military to protect our freedoms, and now I’m standing in a gym, exercising my right to free speech while literally exercising. And I get attacked for it,” she said. “You don’t have to agree with me. But I fought for your right to wear a Biden-Harris hat just as much as I fought for my right to wear my MAHA hat.”
After the Army, Lake left her Wall Street career for India. She spent 12 years there leading a humanitarian mission that helped rescue human trafficking victims, running an orphanage and teaching survivors job skills through her bakery.
Lake’s commitment to health comes from lived experience.
While helping trafficking victims in India, she endured major health challenges but remained committed to providing shelter, food and medical care.
“Living in India was a crash course in resilience. You can’t be there for years and not deal with health challenges—it’s just part of the experience,” she said. “I lived in Bombay, where my body was basically a petri dish. I was exposed to everything—tuberculosis, dengue fever and food borne illnesses.”
She came away with a new respect for alternative healing. “I saw how different cultures approach health, how preventative care and natural remedies are a way of life. There was no luxury of just running to the hospital for every little thing. You had to be tough, recover fast and keep moving.”
The time in India shaped her mindset about health. “You get a real understanding of what it means to be healthy when you’re working in places where people don’t have access to clean water, basic nutrition or medical care.”
It wasn’t just her own health that opened her eyes. All children came to her severely malnourished, disease-ridden – and a few unconscious and close to death.
She also worked with children and women who were HIV-positive. “Some of the girls we rescued came in so malnourished, so sick and just completely depleted. Seeing their transformations when they got proper food and care was proof of how powerful real health interventions can be.”
Lake explored global health disparities and resilience in a TedX Talk, drawing from this experience.
The fight for health freedom is deeply personal for her. “Cancer changed my perspective, but it didn’t change my foundation. I’ve always believed in taking ownership of my health, and that hasn’t changed.”
She believes the health crisis in America is one of the most pressing issues of our time. “We’re fighting over stupid things while people are dying from preventable diseases.”
Lake believes Kennedy’s role in MAHA speaks volumes. “RFK Jr. has been a Democrat his entire life, but even he sees the disaster of what’s happening to public health in this country.”
For Lake, RFK Jr.’s involvement underscores a deeper truth: the real enemy isn’t political ideology—it’s the system that profits off keeping people sick.
“People are so obsessed with left vs. right, but RFK Jr. gets it—this is about right vs. wrong. If we don’t fix the health crisis in this country, none of the other political fights will even matter.”
The MAHA movement isn’t about who someone voted for, she said—it’s about who is willing to fight for real health reform.
For Lake, it’s ridiculous to equate the MAHA movement as mere support for President Trump. It’s about anyone willing to challenge the institutions that have let Americans down.
“The fact that RFK Jr. is leading this movement proves that MAHA isn’t just about Trump supporters. It’s about everyone who wants to take their health back from the people profiting off of keeping us sick.”
In her view, health freedom transcends politics. “This isn’t a partisan issue. It never should have been. RFK Jr. stepping up is proof that health freedom matters to all of us, no matter what letter is next to your name on a ballot.”
For Lake, the extreme reaction to her MAHA hat transcends politics–it’s a symptom of a nation in crisis.
She believes Big Pharma, government policies and media-driven division are fueling this breakdown. “The government wants you sick. The media wants you outraged. Big Pharma wants you dependent. Why? Because it makes them rich. When you’re sick, scared and distracted, you don’t ask questions. You just comply.”
Lake doesn’t want revenge—she wants justice. And even more, she wants Americans to wake up.
“People don’t just disagree anymore—they seek to destroy you. That’s what has to change.”
She believes Americans need to take back their health, stop letting political anger destroy public spaces and demand better from the media. “We need to stop fighting each other and start fighting for our health. The real enemy isn’t your neighbor. It’s the system that wants to keep you sick, distracted and divided.”
That’s the message behind MAHA, she says. “We need a health revolution. Because a healthy America is a free America. And that’s what MAHA is really about.”
“This wasn’t just about a hat,” Lake said. “It was about what that hat represents—taking back control of our health, our freedom and our future. And if that’s controversial, then America is in more trouble than we thought.”