REALITY TV
TV
MOVIES
MUSIC
CELEBRITY
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use Accuracy & Fairness Corrections & Clarifications Ethics Code Your Ad Choices
© MEAWW All rights reserved
MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Trump's Turning Point USA event with conservative teens marred by fake presidential seal whose motto says '45 is a puppet'

The bald eagle in the seal had been exchanged for a two-headed eagle from the Russian coat of arms, with the 13 arrows taken out for a set of golf clubs.
UPDATED JUL 25, 2019

Donald Trump's presidency has been punctuated by several faux pas and this week was no different, with the latest incident coming as he spoke to a convention of conservative teens in Washington on Tuesday.

Trump took the stage to thunderous applause and chants of 'USA! USA! USA!' from the hundreds of teens gathered at the center, but it was all downhill from there from a public relations point of view for an administration that has had to contend with several media gaffes.

While the correct presidential seal — a bald eagle facing to the left and holding 13 arrows in the talons of its opposite foot — hung from the podium, as it does in every speech a president delivers, a video backdrop contained an altered and satirical version, reported the Daily Mail.

The 'E Pluribus Unum' motto that means 'out of many, one' in Latin that features in the original had instead been replaced by a Spanish phrase, '45 es un Titere,' which translates to '45 is a puppet.'

The bald eagle in the seal, which has remained unchanged since 1960, had been exchanged for a two-headed eagle from the Russian coat of arms. The 13 arrows in its left talon has been replaced with a set of golf clubs, while the olive branch in its right talon has been replaced by a wad of cash. The insignia on the two-headed eagle's chest also contained 5 hammer and sickle image of the Communist Party.

The altered seal appears to be a broadside at Trump at many levels -- including accusations of being Russia President Vladimir Putin's puppet and his love for golf.

The fake seal saw the bald eagle replaced by the Russian version and the arrows replaced by golf clubs (Source: Twitter)

The '45 is a puppet' likely draws inspiration from a 2016 presidential debate where Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton accused Trump of being Russian President Vladimir Putin's 'puppet.'

In response, Trump had shot back at the time, "No puppet! No puppet! You're the puppet!"

The two-headed eagle taken from the Russian coat of arms is similarly pointing to allegations that Trump and members of his aides colluded with the Kremlin to swing the 2016 election in their favor.

It's something the president has not taken to too kindly, insisting throughout Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the matter that there was no collusion. In a 448-page report submitted to the attorney general in March, Mueller eventually concluded the same. 

The golf clubs are seemingly a reference to how often Trump has gone golfing since he took over the Oval Office — according to one estimate, that number sits at 198, approximately once every five days.

The Daily Mail reported that the satirical seal was lifted from an online retailer called 'One Term Donnie,' who sells t-shirts and tote bags featuring the artwork.

Neither the White House nor Turning Point USA, the group that hosted the speech, know how the seal ended up on the screen, with a source at the latter stating they were "chasing down an explanation" for the "embarrassing" incident.

"It was a last-minute A/V mistake – and I can’t figure out where the breakdown was – but it was a last-minute throw-up, and that’s all it was," a spokesman for Turning Point insisted. "I can’t figure out who did it yet."

However, the spokesman did rule out foul play and blamed the mistake on the sloppiness of adolescents. "I think it was as simple as a rushed move throwing up an image, and it was the wrong one," they said. 

POPULAR ON MEAWW
MORE ON MEAWW