Trump official under fire for ‘insane’ SNAP fraudster Halloween costume
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Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins faced backlash over a social media post depicting a welfare “fraudster” Halloween costume that critics called racist.
Rollins shared the image on X on Saturday afternoon. Styled as a Spirit Halloween costume kit, it bore the label “SNAP fraudster,” a reference to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The image featured a Black man wearing jewelry and standing in front of stacks of cash. The listed costume accessories included fake grills, an EBT card and handcuffs.
“Some costumes come with a price tag,” Rollins wrote. “This one comes with a prison sentence. To anyone stealing from American taxpayers: The tricks are over. The treats are running out. Happy Halloween!”
The post drew more than two million views and thousands of comments. Many users condemned the image as offensive, while Rollins and her defenders pointed out that it depicted a real person who has been charged with fraud.
“Just insane white supremacy, out in the open brazen racism, from Trump cabinet members,” British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan wrote. “But hey, let’s return to our regularly scheduled programming on Hasan Piker and the left.”
“Is there a single decent human in Trump’s cabinet?” added neoconservative writer Bill Kristol. “If there were, he or she would denounce this racism. But there isn’t.”
Democratic lawmakers also weighed in.
“Despicable. Disgusting. Not even hiding it,” Ohio Rep. Shontel Brown wrote. “And I look forward to your answer to what motivated this graphic when you appear in front of the Agriculture Committee in January.”
Virginia Rep. James Walkinshaw responded with a similar mock costume depicting President Donald Trump as a “convicted fraudster,” a reference to his 34 felony convictions.
“To the Trump Administration officials stealing from American taxpayers: The tricks are over. The treats are running out,” Walkinshaw captioned the post.
Other critics noted that white Americans make up a larger share of SNAP recipients than Black Americans. According to the Pew Research Center, citing Census Bureau data, 37.4 percent of recipients in 2023 were non-Hispanic white, while 28.7 percent were black.
Conservatives defending Rollins said the image showed Shawty Dred, a social media personality indicted last month over an alleged $4 million SNAP fraud scheme.
“Brooke Rollins posted a picture of an actual criminal rapper…” right-wing political commentator Benny Johnson, who has previously interviewed Rollins, wrote on X. “The usual suspects immediately started melting down about how ‘racist’ it is because they thought it was a ‘random black guy.’”
“It’s a real picture,” he added. “They’re telling on themselves.”
Rollins confirmed that her viral post depicted Dred, writing in a follow-up post: “To the Left: Please do your homework.” She included a link to a Justice Department press release announcing the indictment against Dred, who is accused of stealing “over $4 million meant for poor families.”
