Trump Unknowingly Spoke in Front of Presidential Seal Altered To Insult Him
When President Donald Trump spoke at Turning Point USA’s Teen Student Action Summit in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, he expected to be in a friendly environment.
For the most part, the event was very friendly to the president as he spoke to young conservatives who defend the president from the left’s increasingly unhinged attacks.
At one point, however, a photoshopped version of the presidential seal flashed on the screen behind Trump as he spoke.
The altered seal featured a two-headed eagle — the same as the Russian symbol — with the eagle’s talons gripping golf clubs on the right and what appeared to be cash on the left.
The crowd reportedly shook off the shocking image, but the establishment media has run with the story, delightedly pointing out the connection to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
The Washington Post noted the two-headed eagle was “a symbol historically tied to empire and dominance.”
Trump spoke in front of a fake presidential seal that included a Russian symbol. How it got there is a mystery. https://t.co/og3IF926cQ
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 25, 2019
The Independent quoted a legal professor at Washington University who said, “I just think Putin would probably approve.”
The Post pointed out that the website Inktale.com sells merchandise with the same, or a very similar, version of the seal.
A notable difference that’s very clear on the Inktale version but harder to distinguish in the pictures of the Turning Point event is the banner normally held in the eagle’s mouth.
On the actual seal, that banner carries a traditional American motto, E Pluribus Unum, the Latin phrase meaning “out of many, one.”
The banner on the altered seal, however, read, “45 Es Un Titere,” meaning “45 is a puppet” in Spanish. Trump is the nation’s 45th president.
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 ✪ ΔCŦUΔL³³º¹ (@th3j35t3r) July 25, 2019
Originally, some suggested the altered seal was the work of a prankster or a plant in the organization, or an audience managed to gain access to a projection system displaying images behind the president.
However, CNN reported Thursday that it was the result of a Google search gone wrong, according to someone familiar with the incident.
“One of our video team members did a Google Image search for a high-res png [file] presidential seal,” the source told CNN, adding that the individual “did the search and with the pressure of the event, didn’t notice that it is a doctored seal.”
Note: This piece has been updated to reflect reporting that the incident was an accident, not intentional sabotage as was originally reported.
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