Valentine’s Day is usually a celebration of love. But this year, the White House put a dark spin on the popular ‘roses are red, violets are blue’ refrain to promote deportations, unwittingly duping several people into thinking its social media Valentine’s Day post was false.
Around 14th February, social media users around the world – including in Malta – picked up on a post containing an unofficial-looking image consisting of a bubble gum pink background peppered with tiny hearts, four lines of cartoonish uppercase text, and cut-outs of the faces of US president Donald Trump (possibly from his official portrait) and his border czar Thomas Homan. The White House emblem sits at the bottom.
The text on the image reads ‘roses are red | violets are blue | come here illegally | and we’ll deport you’.
Several social media users thought the ‘meme’ was dark satire produced by a third party. Others said that they wished it were the case.
Social media users in Malta shared the White House’s post, expressing disbelief.
The image was posted across social media by a page/account appearing to be the White House. It was, in fact, the real White House, posting across its official channels – namely its accounts on Facebook, Instagram and X – captioning the image with ‘Happy Valentine’s Day [red heart emoji]’.
How to check if it really is an official page/account:
- Is it verified? Has it got a tick (✓)? Do note, though, that this mark on X is no longer a valid indicator, as it just means that a user is subscribed to X Premium.
- How many followers/likes? (The official White House page has millions.)
- Posting activity/behaviour
- Most importantly: check the clickable social media icons on the official website. Official bodies/organisations should have such links on their sites.
As TIME reports, the White House’s post comes at a time when the Trump administration is clamping down on immigration through hostile enforcement efforts and policies.
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Originally published here.
