Wednesday, July 24, 2019

"How did Trump end up in front of a presidential seal doctored to include" golf clubs and a two-headed eagle?

WaPo:
Trump took the stage and soaked in the raucous cheers from hundreds of young supporters packed inside the Marriott Marquis in Washington.

Charlie Kirk, Turning Point’s outspoken founder and executive director, was on his left. But the image on the screen to Trump’s right — captured in dozens of photos and videos from the event — is less familiar.

...

The eagle has two heads instead of one — a symbol historically tied to empire and dominance. It closely resembles the bird on the Russian coat of arms and also appears on the flags of Serbia, Albania and Montenegro. Its left talons, rather than clasping 13 arrows, appear to clutch a set of golf clubs.

...

“It was a last-minute A/V mistake — and I can’t figure out where the breakdown was — but it was a last minute throw-up, and that’s all it was,” he said. “I can’t figure out who did it yet.”

...

An online search for the same image yielded no matching results.
At the extreme opposite end of the spectrum:
Posing for the camera with a presidential candidate used to be a perk generally reserved for wealthy donors. At Senator Elizabeth Warren’s events, all it costs is passing some time in a well-organized selfie* line.

At a recent event in Lansing, a small army of campaign staff members — working like a factory assembly line that hums along — helped usher voters through their encounter with Ms. Warren in eight key steps.