As US midterms near, Trump administration ramps up rhetoric with bigoted, racist memes

The Trump administration’s online accounts are circulating images of a pumpkin carved with a sombrero design and a fake Halloween-themed background around a black man apparently accused of food assistance fraud, in social media posts slammed by critics as inflammatory rhetoric.

Only days before the midterm election, the posts coincide with the government’s sweeping campaign to show its aggressive immigration enforcement and highlight efforts to crack down on fraud to save taxpayers money when rising healthcare costs and other economic stressors have made affordability a top voter concern.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted on Saturday on social media a photo of the black man standing in front of stacks of what appear to be US currency with the headline, SNAP FRAUDSTER, an apparent reference to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme, formerly known as food stamps.

He is holding aloft what appears to be a bill set aflame.

“Some costumes come with a price tag. This one comes with a prison sentence,” it says to the backdrop of fake spirit Halloween costume packaging.

Another photo posted by the White House on social media on Thursday showed a pumpkin with the shape of a sombrero carved across it and the words “Spooky szn is here”.

The post by Rollins, who was nominated by Trump to serve as the US secretary of agriculture in November 2024, appears to be taken from an online post from September 2025 by a social media account under the name Shawty Dred.

Earlier this month, Mercedes Reshard New, identified by the Justice Department as a social media personality also known as “Shawty Dred”, was arrested on federal charges for fraudulently obtaining more than US$4 million in Snap benefits in Georgia.

It is not the first time the White House has been accused of posting inflammatory images on official government social media accounts.

Just over a year ago, during the government shutdown, the White House revived a deepfake video posted by Donald Trump of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a fake moustache and sombrero to accuse the Democrats of acting on behalf of illegal immigrants instead of US citizens.

Jeffries described the meme as bigoted. They played it on repeat in the White House briefing room, though Vice-President J.D. Vance promised that the “sombrero memes will stop” when Democrats agreed to end the shutdown.

The NAACP did not respond to an email seeking comment, nor did the White House or Rollins.

The Trump administration in recent weeks has ratcheted up its anti-immigrant rhetoric and accusations of fraud, including against US Representative Ilhan Omar, whose Washington DC home was searched by federal agents earlier this month. Federal authorities are investigating potential fraud in her family’s immigration paperwork. Omar, who was born in Somalia, is a naturalised US citizen.

It also has taken a series of punitive steps linked to allegations of fraud in mostly Democratic-led states, including California and Minnesota, whose governors accused the federal government of targeting their states for political reasons.

Federal prosecutors said in a news release on October 21 that the influencer, New, controlled more than 350 fraudulent Snap accounts under stolen identities between January 2020 and July 2026. He allegedly applied for his company, Shawty Dred, to become an authorised Snap retailer and used EBT debit cards to extract about US$4 million from the accounts.

New’s social media account, which has more than 2 million followers, has flaunted his extravagant lifestyle, federal prosecutors said. Posts depict him flying on private jets, posing with Rolls-Royce vehicles in front of his “super mansion” and handling massive stacks of cash.

“Instead of this money feeding families in need, New, the social media personality known as ‘Shawty Dred’, allegedly used the cash to bankroll a life of luxury,” Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta Marlo Graham said in the release.

New was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 7 on dozens of counts of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, and one count each of Snap fraud and illegal transactions with access devices. He was arrested on October 13 and remains in federal custody.

According to Fulton county jail records, New has been arrested multiple times on suspicion of crimes including identity theft, insurance fraud, financial transaction card fraud, forgery and simple assault.

A federal defender listed in court records as representing New, Joseph Austin, did not return a phone message.