A newly hired White House spokesperson for President Donald Trump is facing scrutiny after a provocative photo from her campaign days resurfaced online.
Beni Rae Harmony faced backlash on Saturday, the day after she posted about landing a job as an assistant press secretary and White House spokesperson, because an image surfaced of her gripping a rifle while wearing a shirt cursing Joe Biden, according to reporting by the Daily Beast.
The photo dates to 2021, when Jarome Bell, a former Republican congressional candidate in Virginia, shared it on Instagram. In the photo, she has a menacing expression and is wearing a shirt that reads "F— JOE BIDEN."
"My campaign Public Affairs Director @beniraeharmony is a beast," Bell wrote in the caption. "This is how we roll."
According to the Daily Beast, Harmony's official Instagram account liked the post.
The account PatriotTakes, which monitors right-wing extremism, shared the image on X, and people reacted with disgust and alarm.
Legal and political analyst Marcy Wheeler, who runs the blog "emptywheel," reacted on X by writing, "Hey @AGToddBlanche? Will you prosecute @BeniRaeHarmony for threatening to 8646?" Wheeler was referring to the Trump DOJ's ongoing case against former FBI director James Comey for posting an image of seashells reading "8647."
"If not why not?" Wheeler asked.
Journalist John Harwood called Harmony "garbage" in responding to the photo. Former tennis professional turned political commentator Martina Navratilova sarcastically remarked, "Classy" in her reaction. USA Today opinion columnist Michael J. Stern took a jab by writing "the white trash White House" in a reaction on Bluesky.
Harmony spent the last year covering the White House for Real America's Voice, the right-wing channel that carries Steve Bannon's weekday program and "The Charlie Kirk Show." According to the Daily Beast, she worked at a TV station in Springfield, Illinois, and has said the station suspended her after she delivered an unscripted on-air tribute to Charlie Kirk following his assassination.