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Aide for US conservative group fired after Trump appears in front of fake seal

An aide for a US conservative group has been fired after a fake presidential seal appeared behind...
Stephen McNeice
Stephen McNeice

10.55 26 Jul 2019


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Aide for US conservative group...

Aide for US conservative group fired after Trump appears in front of fake seal

Stephen McNeice
Stephen McNeice

10.55 26 Jul 2019


Share this article


An aide for a US conservative group has been fired after a fake presidential seal appeared behind Donald Trump during a speech by the US president.

The graphic appeared on a large screen as Mr Trump took the stage in Washington on Tuesday at an event for conservative student group Turning Point USA.

The traditional presidential seal shows an eagle grasping an olive branch and arrows.

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However, the alternative version showed a Russia-inspired two-headed eagle holding golf clubs and cash in its talons.

Meanwhile, the text on the crest was also changed to a Spanish message "45 Es un Títere" (which translates to '45 is a puppet', referencing Trump as the 45th US president) instead of the usual Latin "E pluribus unum" ('from many one').

An audiovisual aide for Turning Point USA was fired over the mistake, which is being blamed on an image search gone wrong.

A spokesperson for the group told US media that the mistake was unacceptable, but it's not thought to have been done with malicious intent.

A White House spokesperson said they had no knowledge of the seal before it appeared in the video.

Meanwhile, US media also spoke to the 46-year-old graphic designer who initially put together the fake seal after the 2016 US election.

Charles Leazott told The Washington Post: “This was just a goofy thing for some people I knew. I had no idea it would blow up like this."

Additional reporting by IRN
Main image: Donald Trump makes remarks at Turning Point USA's Teen Student Action Summit 2019, standing next to a doctored Presidential Seal on his arrival. Picture by: Chris Kleponis/DPA/PA Images

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