WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump took the stage Tuesday at a student activist conference, an altered presidential seal that appeared to be mocking the president was displayed behind him.
The Washington Post was first to report on the unexpected sight that appeared to have gone unnoticed during the Turning Point USA event in Washington, D.C.
As Trump walked onstage, two presidential seals were shown on video screens. One was the official seal, but the other appeared to have been altered.
Some of the differences included the eagle clasping golf clubs instead of arrows and that it had two heads instead of one, closely resembling Russia's coat of arms.
The seal also appeared to feature a banner that reads "45 es un titere," which is Spanish for "45 is a puppet."
According to the Post, neither the White House or Turning Point USA are sure where the seal came from or how it wound up being shown behind the president.
A spokesperson for Turning Point USA, a conservative group, told the Post Thursday morning that it had fired the member of its video team responsible for displaying the fake seal.
"I don't think it was malicious intent, but nevertheless," the spokesman said. On Wednesday the spokesperson said it had been a "last-minute A/V mistake" and it "certainly wasn't our intention" to show a fake seal.
Video and photos from the event show that both the altered and official presidential seals went away when the president began speaking.
The president's official Twitter account tweeted video from Tuesday's event that shows the altered seal (around the 46 second mark).
A White House spokesperson told The Hill they did not see the seal before it was shown on screen and referred questions to Turning Point USA.
