Posted on 07/25/2019 1:00:36 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
A fake presidential seal appeared behind President Trump onstage at an event for conservative student group Turning Point USA this week.
The fake seal was only briefly visible as Trump walked onstage, replaced by the authentic one for the remainder of the speech, but an aide to TPUSA has reportedly been fired over what was either a startling error or a deliberate prank.
Here are four differences between the genuine seal and the one that appeared behind the president on Tuesday.
The eagle
While the presidential seal features a standard eagle, the one behind Trump this week featured a double-headed eagle. Double-headed eagles are typically associated with empires and have appeared in other countries’ iconography as well, including the coats of arms of the Austrian Empire and Serbia.
Resemblance to the Russian federation coat of arms
In addition, the eagle makes the false seal bear a resemblance to the coat of arms of the Russian federation, which is itself based on the coat of arms used in Czarist Russia. The original double-headed eagle coat of arms was discontinued after the Russian Revolution in 1917 in favor of the recognizable Soviet hammer and sickle imagery but the eagle was restored in 1992 after the dissolution of the USSR.
The motto
The standard presidential seal bears the national motto “E pluribus unum,” Latin for “out of many, one.” The fake seal behind Trump at the TPUSA event instead featured the phrase “45 es un títere,” Spanish for “45 is a puppet.” Trump famously pushed back against his then-opponent Hillary Clinton’s characterization of him as a “puppet” of Russian president Vladimir Putin at the 2016 presidential debates.
The eagle’s claws
While the eagle on the real seal bears several arrows in its right talon, the one on the doctored seal is bearing golf clubs, an apparent reference to Trump’s frequent visits to the several golf clubs he owns. Trump has spent 210 days at his golf properties while in office, according to NBC's tracker.
It’s blurry but it appears to start with 45 es un (in Spanish, 45 is a...) I couldn’t make out the rest. 45 of course is Trump.
It’s blurry but it appears to start with 45 es un (in Spanish, 45 is a...) I couldn’t make out the rest. 45 of course is Trump.
I agree. It was a hostile prank and whoever hired this guy should also be on the way out.
If it wasn’t for the political message in the phony seal, I’d agree with you. An irreverent prank is one thing. I don’t put this in that category.
It’s not the prank, it’s the ability of someone to get close enough to the event to tamper with the equipment that should be concerning.
~~~
That’s an inevitable truth of life in public service I expect.
If you’re going to worry about such things you’re going to be crippled with anxiety.
That may actually be much less true for the President with how good the secret service is, but anybody can be got to at any time, and thankfully it’s very rare.
Heck, look how bat crazy some small town city council meetings get some times. Lots of nutjobs out there. If you’re going to serve, I’m not saying you don’t have situational awareness and take all prudent cautions, but you have got to be in the thick of it.
70 days a year over 3 years....that would include week-ends and holidays in which Congress itself wasn’t in session and electons, ect...hmm not impressed with NBC’s obvious disingenuous smear attempt.
“For Trump, golf is a tool. He takes people out on the golf course to get them to relax and talk.”
I agree. Besides which, Trump does more work in one week than Obama did in 8 years. He’s entitled to a little R & R.
Good reminder.
“Is a puppet”, I think.
Trump has spent 210 days at his golf properties while in office/////
Just because he is at a golf property like Marolago, doesn’t mean he’s playing golf there. Another misleading storyline by nbc.
Well put and exactly right.
President Trump keeps residences at several of his golf resorts, so anytime he goes to stay in one of those personal houses, they chalk it up to playing golf I suppose.
Vandalism of a computer image? Desecration? Criminal chantry’s for a harmless prank? For real? You need to lighten up a bit. No one got hurt.
IIRC, most of the modern Presidents played golf. Many people who are heads of corporations do their job and play golf.
“Have to admit - the golf clubs were pretty funny.”
I know. The whole this is actually pretty clever if only it had been in a different context, like at a Trump protest or the like ..
One would think that the President's security detail is strong enough to at least filter out the impulsive prankster.
-PJ
It's not the prank, it's the ability of someone to get close enough to the event to tamper with the equipment that should be concerning."
Exactly.
This may appear to be a harmless prank but it raises issues of oversight and security.
How many conservative organizations have been infiltrated? What are they doing behind the scenes?
How many times have we seen provocateurs show up at conservative events with misspelled signs who give racist comments to the media?
How do we laugh these off when the photos and quotes are attributed to us and make the front pages of major news outlets?
I think that’s funny. I sure hope that we conservatives have a sense of humor compared to the leftists. The guy did pay for the prank by losing his job, so there were consequences. I’m sure what he did is a resume enhancer for any leftist organization...though they may not trust him much! LOL!
This person seems to be somebody who didn't just show up that day to tamper with the equipment. I'm assuming the person became a member of the local team, and then used that position to tamper with the equipment.
-PJ
That may be harder to spot than someone with an unsavory background. Or it might not be an impulsive thing at all, perhaps well planned by someone with another job lined up who was unhappy working where they were?
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