Brooke Rollins, the United States agriculture secretary, has drawn a sharp backlash after posting a Halloween-themed image labelled "SNAP Fraudster" on social media, days before voters go to the polls in the midterm elections. Critics called the post, and a separate White House Halloween image, inflammatory, while supporters of the administration's fraud crackdown said the message was aimed at people who steal from taxpayers.
According to the Associated Press, the Trump administration's online accounts have been circulating images that critics slammed as inflammatory rhetoric only days before the November 3 midterm elections. The posts coincide with a government campaign highlighting aggressive immigration enforcement and a crackdown on fraud, at a time when rising healthcare costs and other economic pressures have made affordability a top voter concern.
Rollins posted on Saturday on X a photo of a Black man standing in front of stacks of what appear to be US currency with the headline "SNAP Fraudster", an apparent reference to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. He is holding aloft what appears to be a bill set aflame. The image was presented on fake Spirit Halloween costume packaging, with the caption: "Some costumes come with a price tag. This one comes with a prison sentence."
Rollins added in her own message: "To anyone stealing from American taxpayers: The tricks are over. The treats are running out. Happy Halloween!" A separate photo posted by the White House on X on Thursday showed a pumpkin with the shape of a sombrero carved across it and the words "Spooky szn is here".
The image used by Rollins appears to have been taken from an Instagram post from September 2025 by an account under the name Shawty Dred. Earlier this month, Mercedes Reshard New, identified by the Justice Department as the social media personality also known as "Shawty Dred", was arrested on federal charges for fraudulently obtaining more than $4 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in Georgia.
Federal prosecutors said in a news release on October 21 that New controlled more than 350 fraudulent SNAP accounts under stolen identities between January 2020 and July 2026. He allegedly applied for his company, Shawty Dred LLC, to become an authorized SNAP retailer and used EBT debit cards to extract about $4 million from the accounts.
New's Instagram account, which has more than two million followers, has flaunted an extravagant lifestyle, federal prosecutors said. Posts depict him flying on private jets, posing with Rolls-Royce vehicles in front of his "super mansion", and handling massive stacks of cash. "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," Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta 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, and one count each of SNAP fraud and illegal transactions with access devices. He was arrested on October 13 and remains in federal custody. According to Fulton County jail records, New has been arrested multiple times on suspicion of crimes including identity theft, insurance fraud, financial transaction card fraud, forgery and simple assault. A federal defender listed in court records as representing New, Joseph Austin, did not return a phone message, the Associated Press reported.
The criticism was swift and, in places, blunt. Nebraska-based political activist Jamie Bonkiewicz described the Rollins post as the most racist thing she had ever seen. Journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan wrote: "Just insane white supremacy, out in the open brazen racism, from Trump cabinet members."
Representative Shontel Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, called Rollins's 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, on which Brown sits as the vice ranking member.
Representative James Walkinshaw, a Democrat from Virginia, made his own version of Rollins's post, shifting the target from a Black SNAP recipient to President Donald Trump, whom Walkinshaw depicted in his own mock costume labelled "CONVICTED FRAUDSTER". Walkinshaw wrote: "Some costumes come with a price tag. This one comes with a failed Presidency. To the Trump Administration officials stealing from American taxpayers: The tricks are over. The treats are running out. Happy Halloween!"
The Associated Press reported that the NAACP did not respond to an email seeking comment, nor did the White House or Rollins.
"Some costumes come with a price tag. This one comes with a prison sentence," the Rollins image said. "To anyone stealing from American taxpayers: The tricks are over. The treats are running out. Happy Halloween!" Rollins wrote.
"Just insane white supremacy, out in the open brazen racism, from Trump cabinet members," Mehdi Hasan wrote.
Representative Shontel Brown called the post "despicable" and "disgusting".
"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," Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta Marlo Graham said.
The row matters for two reasons that collide in the final days of the campaign. First, SNAP is not an abstract programme: about 42 million Americans receive food assistance, and the benefit averages roughly $190 a person a month, or about $6.30 a day. Two federal judges ruled on October 30 that the Agriculture Department must use contingency funds to keep at least partial benefits flowing during the shutdown, after the administration had planned to suspend payments. A fraud message landing in that week therefore reads very differently to supporters and critics.
Second, the posts arrive as the administration has ratcheted up its anti-immigrant rhetoric and accusations of fraud, including against US Representative Ilhan Omar, whose Washington, DC, home was searched by federal agents earlier this month. Federal authorities are investigating potential fraud in her family's immigration paperwork. Omar, who was born in Somalia, is a naturalised US citizen. The administration has also taken a series of punitive steps linked to allegations of fraud in mostly Democratic-led states, including California and Minnesota, whose governors accused the federal government of targeting their states for political reasons.
It is also not the first time the White House has been accused of posting inflammatory images on official government social media accounts. 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 to accuse the Democrats of acting on behalf of illegal immigrants instead of US citizens. Jeffries described the meme as bigoted. It was played on repeat in the White House briefing room, though Vice President JD Vance promised that the "sombrero memes will stop" when Democrats agreed to end the shutdown.
Voters go to the polls on Tuesday, November 3, in elections that will decide all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats, and with them control of Congress for the final two years of Trump's second term. Watch for three things: whether the White House or Rollins responds to the criticism; whether Brown follows through on questioning Rollins at the Agriculture Committee; and whether the administration's social media accounts continue the Halloween-style fraud messaging into the final weekend, when Trump is due to hold reinstated in-person rallies in Kansas and Iowa on Sunday.
Related coverage on US News Pulse: two judges order USDA to keep food aid flowing for 42 million, early voting passes 50 million before the midterms, and Newsom warns judges as California ballot-list errors are exposed.
What did Brooke Rollins post? A Halloween-themed image on X on October 31 labelled "SNAP Fraudster", showing a Black man in front of stacks of apparent currency, holding a burning bill, on fake costume packaging, with the line "Some costumes come with a price tag. This one comes with a prison sentence."
Why are critics angry? Critics called the image inflammatory and, in some cases, racist, arguing that it used a racially charged depiction to make a point about food-assistance fraud days before an election. The administration's defenders say the target is fraud, not race.
Who is Shawty Dred? Mercedes Reshard New, a social media personality known as Shawty Dred, who was indicted in October on fraud charges after prosecutors alleged he controlled more than 350 fraudulent SNAP accounts and extracted about $4 million.
What is SNAP? The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, which helps low-income Americans buy food. About 42 million people receive it, at an average of roughly $190 a person a month.
Has the White House responded? The Associated Press reported that the White House and Rollins did not immediately respond to its request for comment, and the NAACP also did not respond.
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