Meet the man who created the fake presidential seal -- a former Republican fed up with Trump

[CatWoman]

Charles Leazott hadn’t thought about the seal in months.

The 46-year-old graphic designer threw it together after the 2016 presidential election — it was one part joke, one part catharsis. He used to be a proud Republican. He voted for George W. Bush. Twice.

But Donald J. Trump’s GOP was no longer his party. So he created a mock presidential seal to prove his point.

He substituted the arrows in the eagle’s claw for a set of golf clubs — a nod to the new president’s favorite pastime. In the other set of talons, he swapped the olive branch for a wad of cash and replaced the United States’ Latin motto with a Spanish insult. Then, his coup de grace: a two-headed imperial bird lifted straight from the Russian coat of arms, an homage to the president’s checkered history with the adversarial country.

“This is the most petty piece of art I have ever created,” the Richmond resident said in an interview with The Washington Post.

The seal wasn’t meant for a wide audience. But then, years later, it wound up stretched across a jumbo-tron screen behind an unwitting President Trump as he spoke to a conference packed with hundreds of his young supporters.

That was Tuesday. On Wednesday, The Post was the first to report that the seal was fake — and that neither the White House, nor Turning Point USA, the organizers of the star-studded Teen Student Action Summit, knew how it got there or where it came from. Leazott woke up Thursday and saw the news in a Reddit post as he drank his morning coffee. Then, a torrent of messages.

“It’s been chaos,” he said. “This is not what I expected when I woke up today.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/25/meet-man-who-created-fake-presidential-seal-former-republican-fed-up-with-trump/?fbclid=IwAR0UrPKzeeEnVdFnSWUP-wThQnOTMw_hlynVSY8epB3-wv13phydUkhPVxY&utm_term=.4a7e9b3c5420

[CatWoman]

1. ...

But, Leazott said, it’s him who gets the last laugh. A photo of Trump in front of his seal is now his computer background, and the person who used it at the event is “either wildly incompetent or the best troll ever — either way, I love them.”

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Well done on his part!

[dalton99a]

3. Great job

[TheBlackAdder]

19. Yep, that's Trump's Motto: 45 is a Puppet!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. It was brilliant.

[Hekate]

5. He can make a bundle on T-shirts, coffee mugs, and bumper stickers...

He can hire the guy who got fired and put him to work manufacturing the stuff.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Here:

https://inktale.com/onetermdonnie/trumps-presidential-seal

[Blue_true]

25. I ordered the iPhone case.

The dude selling it could be a rightwinger, I don't care, I love the case and dig at the Moron in Chief.

[srobertss]

31. I bought two tshirts

One for me and one for my husband. Somehow I thought that the person who displayed it and was fired was also the artist. I want to support the person who put it up and was fired along with the artist! They’re a hero also.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. The graphic designer had nothing to do with the Trump meeting -

he didn't even know about it until it turned up in the news. Still, it's brilliant.

[nolabear]

7. A company called Inktale has them! I am so ordering something.

https://inktale.com/onetermdonnie/trumps-presidential-seal

[CatWoman]

27. thanks Nola

[CatWoman]

37. I ordered a t shirt last night :)

[Niagara]

8. Cleverly done!

[thegoose]

9. Whatever

Too little too late. We're already in hell and cutsie visuals won't do shit.

[ProfessionalLeft]

35. Dig it

[malaise]

10. The Con and his lackeys were

conned - absolutely delish

[onetexan]

11. So what was the spanish insult??

Hats off to the brilliant graphic artist

[dalton99a]

12. '45 is a puppet'

[onetexan]

18. THANKS!

[mercuryblues]

17. It's a puppet

[lpbk2713]

13. I can just imagine what the Trumpsters in the crowd are thinking today ...

"HEY! We been bamboozled!"

BWAHAHAHA

[DFW]

30. They have a big dilemma

Either lie and say they got the joke, and it didn‘t bother them, or admit that ALL of them, up to and including Trump, never had the slightest idea that something wasn‘t right with the seal.

Neither option could be very appealing to them.

[onecaliberal]

14. I love it.

[Tanuki]

15. He has a product website, and has pledged 10% of his profits to the ACLU

https://one-term-donnie.myshopify.com

[mfcorey1]

21. I love that blue cap: KEEP AMERICA SANE!

[Gothmog]

16. This is a great article

[UTUSN]

20. K&R excellent!

[maddiemom]

22. Mr. Leazott: are you single?

I have a daughter in the same line of work who is presently unattached. Seriously, the seal is beyond clever! Reminds me of something my kid would come up with.

[Richard D]

24. Someone lost their job

A member of a conservative US group has been fired after projecting a doctored version of the presidential seal at an event featuring President Donald Trump.

A representative for the group, Turning Point USA, told the Washington Post that the fake seal was a mistake, the result of a rushed online search.

But while the group called the slip-up "unacceptable", they maintained there was no "malicious intent".

So what's the story behind the doctored presidential seal?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49116539

[Blue_true]

26. So she made an explainable mistake and they fired her.

Hopefully that is a life lesson that she has chosen to associate with the wrong type of people and that she should step back and evaluate her views.

[lastlib]

28. Only one thing I would change on it:

s/b "The Great STeal of the pResident of the United States"

[CaptYossarian]

33. I would have thrown a mushroom in there. Otherwise, brilliant.

In 2020, we'll find out just how many former Repubs are out there.

[perdita9]

29. Does Mr. Leazott sell posters?

If so, I'd like to buy one along with a bumper sticker and stationary

[Tanuki]

36. Yes, he has posters, bumper stickers, T-shirts and hats

https://one-term-donnie.myshopify.com

[LibDemAlways]

34. A row of hammer and sickles as well. All bases covered!

[dlk]

38. Hope the Publicity Will Generate Lots of Job Offers, Since Leazott was Fired

Keep us posted.

[Pacifist Patriot]

39. He wasn't fired.

The aide who selected the image for projection was terminated. The creator of the seal had nothing to do with it being projected at the event.

[dlk]

40. My Bad, I Hope Whomever Was Fired Received Lots of Job Offers

[Brother Buzz]

42. Leazott wasn't fired, the audio visual kid at Turning Point USA was sacked

Business was so brisk Leazott had to contract with a Fulfillment Center to fill the orders. Leazott said that whoever put the graphic behind Trump (the fired audio visual kid at Turning Point USA) is "my absolute hero."

https://www.businessinsider.com/fake-presidential-seal-made-former-republican-dislikes-trump-2019-7

[StarfishSaver]

41. The White House Communications Agency used to handle all of the AV needs of a presidential event

Where was WHCA and how did they let a stranger provide the graphics to be projected behind the president of the United States?

Sounds like this poor woman is being made a scapegoat for REALLY bad White House advance staff work

[CatWoman]

43. yup

[mnhtnbb]

44. Of course. Nobody knows in the WH

what the hell they are doing. Incompetent. Unprepared. Unqualified. The only requirement for being employed at the WH is allegiance to Hair Fuerher.

[StarfishSaver]

45. This applies to the political appointees, but not to WHCA

They are absolutely top-notch. I suspect a staffer is responsible for this since WHCA is unlikely to have let something like this happen.

[Sogo]

46. "Hair Fuerher"....LOL!

Love it!!