Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins set off a fierce backlash on Saturday after posting a Halloween-themed image on X that labelled a Black man a “SNAP fraudster”, in one of two Trump administration social media posts criticised as inflammatory just days before the midterm elections. Rollins shared the image, styled as fake Spirit Halloween costume packaging, showing the man standing in front of stacks of what appear to be US currency and holding aloft what looks like a burning banknote.
“Some costumes come with a price tag. This one comes with a prison sentence,” the post read. “To anyone stealing from American taxpayers: The tricks are over. The treats are running out. Happy Halloween!” Rollins, who was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as agriculture secretary in November 2024, posted the image on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.
Why the posts matter is timing. They landed only days before Americans vote in the November 3 midterm elections, at a moment when the administration has been running a sweeping campaign around immigration enforcement and fraud, and when rising health care costs and other economic pressures have made affordability a top concern for voters. Critics said the images used racially charged imagery to make a political point in the final stretch of the campaign.
Criticism builds online
A second post added to the criticism. On Thursday, the White House account on X shared a photo of a pumpkin carved with the shape of a sombrero, with the words “Spooky szn is here.” Critics linked the two posts together, arguing that both traded on stereotypes about Black and Latino people in the run-up to the vote.
Reaction online was swift and angry. Democratic Representative Shontel Brown of Ohio called Rollins’ post “despicable” and “disgusting”, and indicated she would question Rollins about what motivated the post when the secretary next testifies before the Agriculture Committee, where Brown serves as vice ranking member. Former Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger responded sarcastically that the post was “not in any way racist if you ignore the obvious racism.”
Prominent attorney George Conway quipped that he had no idea “Secretary of Racism” was a cabinet position, while journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan described the post as open and brazen racism from a Trump cabinet member. Nebraska political activist Jamie Bonkiewicz called it the most racist thing she had ever seen. Democratic Representative James Walkinshaw of Virginia answered with his own version of the post, depicting Trump himself in a mock costume labelled “CONVICTED FRAUDSTER” and writing: “Some costumes come with a price tag. This one comes with a failed Presidency.”
Neither the White House nor Rollins responded to requests for comment, according to the Associated Press, and the NAACP also did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The fraud case behind the image
Rollins’ image appears to be taken from an Instagram post from September 2025 by an account under the name Shawty Dred, the Associated Press reported. Earlier this month, Mercedes Reshard New, identified by the Justice Department as the social media personality 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 authorised SNAP retailer and used EBT debit cards to extract about $4 million from the accounts.
“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. Prosecutors said New’s Instagram account, which has more than two million followers, showed him flying on private jets, posing with Rolls-Royce vehicles in front of his “super mansion”, and handling massive stacks of cash.
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 previously 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.
An earlier sombrero controversy
It is 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 showing House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a fake moustache and sombrero, used to accuse Democrats of acting on behalf of illegal immigrants instead of US citizens. Jeffries described the meme as bigoted. The video was played on repeat in the White House briefing room, although Vice President JD Vance later promised that the “sombrero memes will stop” when Democrats agreed to end the shutdown.
The latest posts also fit a wider pattern in recent weeks, in which the administration has stepped up its anti-immigrant rhetoric and accusations of fraud. Federal agents searched the Washington home of Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar earlier this month, and 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 have accused the federal government of targeting their states for political reasons. The Associated Press reported that the posts coincide with that campaign, as the administration argues it is cracking down on fraud to save taxpayers money.
What happens next is partly in the hands of voters and partly in Congress. Americans head to the polls on November 3, and the posts are now part of the closing argument in a campaign already dominated by affordability, immigration and trust in institutions. Brown has signalled that Rollins can expect questions about the post at a future Agriculture Committee hearing, while the White House has so far offered no explanation or apology. What is confirmed is that the posts were made, that they drew sharp criticism across party lines, and that the fraud case behind the Rollins image is real and before the courts. What is not confirmed is whether the administration will address the criticism at all before election day.
