On Wednesday, President Donald Trump spoke before the Teen Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA, which was attended by conservative high school students from across the country. Seeing the president speak must have been a real thrill for this crowd, but little did they know that the event was subtly tainted by the work of an apparent prankster.
The Washington Post did some sleuthing and learned that at the event, Trump spoke before an image of the presidential seal that had been doctored to feature a two-headed eagle — mimicking the bird on the Russian coat of arms — and had swapped out the United States motto “E pluribus unum” with “45 es un títere,” which translates in Spanish to “45 is a puppet.”
As if it couldn’t have been even more obvious, the two-headed bird was clasping a set of golf clubs in its left talons instead of the traditional 13 arrows, as well as a wad of cash in its right talons. The image appears to have originated on a website that sells custom merchandise.
For anyone who wants a clearer view of the actual 'Presidential Seal' that was projected onto the big screen behind Trump at his Turning Point Rally. 😂 pic.twitter.com/HpXwMP1aJZ
— JΞSŦΞR ✪ ΔCŦUΔL (@th3j35t3r) July 25, 2019
Although the event organizers were initially unsure who was to blame, on Thursday the conservative group admitted that the video team member responsible for the incident had been fired:
“We did let the individual go,” a Turning Point spokesman told The Washington Post. “I don’t think it was malicious intent, but nevertheless.”
The spokesman called the mistake “unacceptable” and said it was the result of a rushed online search to find a second image of the presidential seal to display behind Trump.
To add an additional layer of embarrassment, Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, lambasted the mistake as “careless” and noted that per White House protocol, a president’s staff should sign off on any images or video displayed at any events that the president appears at.
“You should have control over what the private group is doing, what they’re putting on the screen and anything else,” said Painter, now a law professor at the University of Minnesota. “To let someone project something on the screen that isn’t controlled by the White House is pretty stupid.”
“Pretty stupid!” His words, not ours. At any rate, people seem to agree with both the sentiment, as well as the fake seal itself, as #45isapuppet began trending on Twitter.
Here’s the kicker. The summit was hosted by the conservative group “turning point USA.” #45isapuppet pic.twitter.com/4SyDZdkhFq
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) July 25, 2019
#45isapuppet This really is a thing of beauty. pic.twitter.com/nWIy0rhBp9
— My Sweet Baboo Redux (@babsben) July 25, 2019
This is so good, respect to whoever made it happen, inadvertently or otherwise. #45isapuppet https://t.co/lexGBrQHNB via @gizmodo
— J. Meldal-Johnsen (@justinmj) July 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/HighTechAztec/status/1154410644818538497
https://twitter.com/Cobal7hue/status/1154409389442269184
Someone needs to make this #potus coin. #45isapuppet pic.twitter.com/DD5NjGlnyb
— jon (@EmsBkPilot) July 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/kateandrews777/status/1154399840601812992
Stable Genius here giving a speech to the Hitler Youth of Turning Point USA in front of a presidential seal doctored to include a Russian-style two-headed eagle clutching a bunch of golf clubs under a banner reading (in Spanish) “45 is a puppet.”
MAGA!https://t.co/QrIEOasdWt pic.twitter.com/Ahdxnqe9q1
— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) July 25, 2019
Yet, this may not even be the most embarrassing thing to come out of the Trump administration this week. It’s only Thursday!