Jaws drop as Trump cabinet official drops shockingly 'racist' Halloween message

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins set off a firestorm Saturday with a Halloween message to Americans that critics almost immediately slammed as blatantly “racist.”

“This is the most racist s--- I’ve ever seen,” wroteJamie Bonkiewicz, a Nebraska-based political activist whose home was visited by the Secret Service for comments about former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

In a post on X, Rollins reminded her more than 212,000 followers that defrauding federal food assistance programs was a crime and illustrated the point with a mock Halloween costume labeled “SNAP FRAUDSTER.” The program, formally the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, pays low-income Americans an average of $6.30 per day.

“Some costumes come with a price tag. This one comes with a prison sentence,” Rollins wrote. “To anyone stealing from American taxpayers: The tricks are over. The treats are running out. Happy Halloween!”

The mock Halloween costume features a depiction of an African American man giving the middle finger while wearing copious amounts of jewelry. The man is seen holding a $1 bill set aflame and standing in front of piles of cash and a lighter. The mock costume notes the man’s “questionable fashion choices” and includes “stacks of taxpayers cash,” “fake grills,” an “EBT card” and a pair of “handcuffs.”

Rollins didn’t name him, but the costume appears to reference Mercedes Reshard New, an Atlanta social media personality known as “Shawty Dred.” New was arrested this month on federal charges accusing him of fraudulently obtaining more than $4 million in SNAP benefits to fund a lavish lifestyle.

“Just insane white supremacy, out in the open brazen racism, from Trump cabinet members,” wrote journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan. “But hey, let’s return to our regularly scheduled programming on Hasan Piker and the left.”

Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) called Rollins’ post “despicable” and “disgusting,” and hinted that she would ask Rollins what motivated her to make the post during her upcoming testimony before the Agriculture Committee, which Brown sits on as the vice ranking member.

Prominent attorney George Conway quipped, “I had no idea Secretary of Racism was a cabinet position,” and former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) sarcastically wrote, “Not in any way racist if you ignore the obvious racism.”

Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) made his own version of Rollins’ post, only shifting the target from a Black SNAP recipient to President Donald Trump, whom Walkinshaw depicted in his own mock costume labeled “CONVICTED FRAUDSTER.”

“Some costumes come with a price tag. This one comes with a failed Presidency,” Walkinshaw wrote. “To the Trump Administration officials stealing from American taxpayers: The tricks are over. The treats are running out. Happy Halloween!”