U.S. President Donald Trump applauds in front of a doctored presidential seal as he arrives to address the Teen Student Action Summit July 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says it didn’t know that an altered presidential seal featuring a two-headed eagle clutching golf clubs would be displayed at a speech by President Donald Trump this week.
Spokesman Judd Deere says officials “never saw the seal” before it was projected on a screen behind Trump as he was introduced at Turning Point USA’s teen summit on Tuesday. The real seal has a bald eagle clutching arrows in one set of talons and an olive branch in the other.
A spokesman for Turning Point USA told The Washington Post, which first reported on the seal, it fired a video team member for mistakenly displaying the seal.
The person who lost his job says that he Google-searched “Presidential Seal” and that he did not notice the altered image.
Meantime, the actual creator of the seal is identified as
The man who created the altered presidential seal is identified as Charles Leazott, a 46-year old graphic designer, according The Washington Post. He told the publication that he designed the image after becoming disenchanted by Donald Trump and the GOP. Leazott calls it “the most petty piece of art” he’s ever created.
Leazott is a former Republican who voted for former President George W. Bush twice,
Deere referred additional questions to Turning Point USA. The conservative group did not immediately return an emailed request for comment Thursday.
(Associated Press)
