Photo: US Department of State / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
In 60 seconds: Days before the November 3 midterms, two official social posts — a "SNAP Fraudster" image from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and a sombrero-carved pumpkin from the White House — are being slammed by critics as inflammatory, reviving a fight over the administration's online messaging.
- Rollins posted a "SNAP FRAUDSTER" image on X on Saturday, days before Election Day.
- The White House posted a sombrero-carved pumpkin on Thursday captioned "Spooky szn is here."
- The Rollins image appears drawn from a September 2025 Instagram post by "Shawty Dred."
- That alias belongs to Mercedes Reshard New, indicted October 7 in a $4 million SNAP fraud case.
- Critics call the posts inflammatory; the White House and Rollins did not respond to AP's request for comment.
With two days to go before Americans vote, the Trump administration's social media accounts have handed its critics a fresh talking point — and it's not a policy announcement. It's a pumpkin, and a poster.
According to the Associated Press, official accounts circulated two Halloween-season images that critics are calling inflammatory rhetoric: a sombrero carved into a pumpkin, and a "SNAP FRAUDSTER" graphic starring a man surrounded by stacks of cash.
What happened
On Thursday, the White House's account on X posted a photo of a pumpkin with the shape of a sombrero carved across it, captioned "Spooky szn is here."
On Saturday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted her own image on X: a Black man in front of stacks of what appear to be US currency, holding aloft what looks like a bill set aflame, under the headline "SNAP FRAUDSTER." The caption read: "Some costumes come with a price tag. This one comes with a prison sentence," set against fake Spirit Halloween costume packaging.
Critics slammed both posts as inflammatory, the AP reported. The White House, Rollins, and the NAACP did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Latest verified facts
The Rollins image has a backstory. It appears to have been taken from a September 2025 Instagram post by an account under the name Shawty Dred, the AP reported.
That name matches Mercedes Reshard New, whom the Justice Department identified as a social media personality also known as "Shawty Dred." Earlier this month, New was arrested on federal charges for fraudulently obtaining more than $4 million in SNAP benefits in Georgia.
The details, from federal prosecutors' October 21 news release, are stark. New allegedly controlled more than 350 fraudulent SNAP accounts under stolen identities between January 2020 and July 2026, applied for his company, Shawty Dred LLC, to become an authorized SNAP retailer, and used EBT debit cards to extract about $4 million. "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," FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge 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, plus one count each of SNAP fraud and illegal transactions with access devices. He was arrested October 13 and remains in federal custody. A federal defender listed as representing him did not return a phone message.
This isn't the first round of this fight, either. Just over a year ago, during the government shutdown, the White House revived a deepfake video posted by Trump of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a fake mustache and sombrero. Jeffries described the meme as bigoted, and it played on repeat in the White House briefing room, though Vice President JD Vance promised the "sombrero memes will stop" when Democrats agreed to end the shutdown.
Read our earlier midterm coverage: Trump's 72-hour phone blitz and the DOJ California voter-list fight.
Why it matters
Strip away the Halloween dressing and two stories collide. One is a real fraud case — $4 million allegedly siphoned from a program meant to feed families in need, with a defendant who flaunted the proceeds online. That's a legitimate enforcement story, and the administration has every reason to publicize it.
The other story is about the packaging. Critics argue that pairing a Black man's image with a "fraudster" label, days before an election, and following it up with sombrero imagery the administration has already been called out for, turns an enforcement announcement into something else — a signal, not a statement. The AP noted the posts coincide with a broader enforcement and fraud campaign. Two days before voting, that framing matters as much as the content.
Impact on the USA and the world
Domestically, the episode fits a pattern: official government accounts used for campaign-style content, with critics and supporters reading the same image in opposite ways.
What happens next
The immediate verdict arrives Tuesday, November 3, when voters cast their ballots. Whether these posts energize the administration's base, alienate swing voters, or vanish into the noise of the final weekend is something only the results can answer.
The legal track runs separately: New's case proceeds in federal court.
Our take: the fraud case is real and worth reporting, but the administration chose the loudest possible packaging for it, days before an election, using imagery it already knew was contested. That choice is the story.
Frequently asked questions
What did Brooke Rollins post? On Saturday, the Agriculture Secretary posted an image on X showing a man in front of stacks of currency under the headline "SNAP FRAUDSTER," with a caption about a costume coming with a prison sentence.
Who is "Shawty Dred"? The alias of Mercedes Reshard New, a social media personality indicted October 7 on federal fraud charges over an alleged $4 million SNAP scheme in Georgia.
What was the White House pumpkin post? On Thursday, the White House posted a pumpkin carved with a sombrero shape, captioned "Spooky szn is here."
Has the administration responded to the criticism? The White House and Rollins did not respond to the AP's emails seeking comment, and the NAACP also did not respond.
Sources
- Associated Press via The Week — "Trump admin's social media posts ahead of elections criticised for being inflammatory," November 1, 2026
- US Department of Justice news release, October 21, 2026 — New indictment and SNAP fraud allegations (as reported by AP)
- White House and Secretary Rollins posts on X, October 29 and October 31, 2026 (as reported by AP)