An employee for the conservative group Turning Point USA has reportedly been fired following an incident in which President Trump appeared in front of an altered presidential seal at an event hosted by the organization.
An unnamed Turning Point USA source told CNN that an audiovisual aide responsible for the seal has been dismissed. The source emphasized to the news network that there was “zero malicious intent” behind the image.
{mosads}”We’re sorry for the mix-up and meant no disrespect to the White House or the president or the advance team,” the TPUSA source told CNN.
Turning Point USA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
Trump on Tuesday addressed a crowd of about 1,500 young conservatives during the group’s Teen Student Action Summit in Washington, D.C. As he walked on stage, a screen behind him
displayed an altered presidential seal featuring a two-headed eagle — an image similar to that on Russia’s coat of arms — holding a set of golf clubs.
A
banner also read “45 es un titere,” Spanish for “45 is a puppet,” The Washington Post noted. The image was interpreted as a jab at the president for his relationship with Moscow and his love of golf.
A source familiar with the event told CNN that the fake presidential seal appeared on screen because of a Google search mistake. TPUSA had reportedly been planning to use event branding on background screens during Trump’s speech.
But the team was told just hours before the event to replace the branding with a presidential seal, CNN reported.
“One of our video team members did a Google Image search for a high-res png (file) presidential seal,” a source familiar with the incident said.
The source said that the individual “did the search and with the pressure of the event, didn’t notice that it is a doctored seal.”
A White House spokesman told The Hill earlier Thursday that officials had not seen the seal before it was displayed. The spokesman referred further questions to TPUSA.
“Somewhere there was a breakdown. I think it was as simple as a rushed move throwing up an image, and it was the wrong one,” a TPUSA spokesman told the Post. “It was an A/V mistake … it certainly wasn’t our intention.”
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