News
Louis Staples
Jul 26, 2019
This week, Donald Trump addressed a group of teenage conservative activists from controversial student group Turning Point USA.
But there was one glaring problem.
Behind Trump as he spoke in front of thousands of phone-clutching teens was a screen. The screen displayed a parody image of the presidential seal featuring a two-headed eagle that bore a striking similarity to the State seal of the Russian Federation. The eagle clutched a set of golf clubs in its talons.
The seal was visible behind Trump, who stood behind a podium affixed with the official presidential seal during his speech.
Turning Point apologised for the incident, telling CNN there was "zero malicious intent" behind the imagery.
We're sorry for the mix-up and meant no disrespect to the White House or the President or the advance team.
The individual responsible, a member of Turning Point’s team, was let go. Allegedly, the incident was just a Google search mistake.
The seal's eagle evokes imagery of the Russian coat of arms. Trump's relationship with Russia has cast somewhat of a shadow over his presidency after Robert Mueller’s investigation into his campaign’s involvement in Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Naturally, given the Russian interference in the 2016 election – which Trump benefited from – Twitter found Turning Point's blunder hilarious.
After images of the seal were saved online, "45 is a puppet" began trending on Twitter, which was written on the seal. This likely references when Hillary Clinton famously said in 2016 that Russian president Putin would "rather have a puppet" like Trump as presdient.
H/T: CNN
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