OPINION: The White House Instagram must be stopped | Opinion

The op-ed below does not necessarily reflect the views of the University Daily Kansan and its members.

“Class has returned to the White House.”

That’s what many MAGA supporters declared a month ago when Donald Trump returned to White House for his second term. 

It seems that MAGA supporters and I have two very distinct definitions of what “class” is. To me, class is respecting human rights and dignity. To me, class means respecting the principles on which this country was founded.

But it seems that MAGA and the Trump Administration don’t define “class” like I do. In an attempt to seem relatable and charismatic, the official White House Instagram has done some pretty distasteful and unclassy things recently. 

On Valentine’s Day, it posted a “fun” little poem, “Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally and we’ll deport you.” How lovely. 

My feelings when I first saw this post on Valentine’s Day were nothing short of perplexed. It was shock, disbelief, anger and nausea. I thought ‘This has to be a joke. Some sick joke made by one of Trump’s fans,’ because if it was a doctored image then at least that would mean that the presidency was holding onto a semblance of integrity. 

Of course I was wrong and this post signaled to me—and many Americans—that the Trump Administration was unabashedly producing and publicly sponsoring shameless cruelty. 

The Trump administration’s love of mass deportations is no secret, mass deportations were one of Trump’s main promises for his presidency. However, as one of the official spokespersons of the current presidency, there’s a level of decorum that should be expected from an account as official as this and making light of a situation, like deportation, that drastically affects human beings’ lives is not exemplary decorum.  

It’s clear what the White House account is trying to do. They’re trying to present Trump as a strong, relentless leader that makes light of serious subjects because he simply can’t be bothered to care and because he’s fun and hip. In a poll done in 2020, 56% of Americans believed Trump was a strong and decisive leader. This facade of a “strong and decisive leader” is nothing more than cruelty.

Although this Valentine’s Day post wants to present a strong and efficient stance, Trump’s mass deportations aren’t going as well as MAGA supporters love to think. Many of his proposed actions are being blocked by federal judges, but unfortunately many of his supporters don’t do enough research into his actions and take him at his word. 

The fact that this account is feeding into a false “impenetrable” stance isn’t my problem with posts made from this profile. As an officially verified account that speaks on behalf of the administration, shouldn’t the account be held to certain standards of professionalism? 

Since Valentine’s Day, the account hasn’t stopped posting, getting more and more disgraceful with each new addition. The post on Feb. 19 was perhaps the one that I thought was most disturbing: a video of a detained undocumented immigrant about to board a deportation flight with the caption “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight.”

In the process of making a silly little post, the White House account managed to strip this migrant of all their dignity, reducing them to nothing more than a video meant to garner likes and views. It was absolutely disgusting and abhorrent behavior, something that should have never been posted—let alone from the official White House account.

As a university student and journalist, it’s not hard for me to tie these present-day events to what I learn in my classes. Two weeks ago, in my Intro to Public Administration class, we discussed public service values that public servants–like Trump and those working for him—should practice.

While studying the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we see many things that the Trump administration should be following.

The Declaration mentions “dignity” five times. Article I shows exactly why the White House Instagram has been displaying deplorable behavior: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” By posting something like “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight,” the White House account is stripping undocumented immigrants of their given right to dignity. 

I’m not the only one who thinks this account is completely renouncing etiquette and respect all to champion humor. Personally, I don’t find anything humorous about it, and neither do many commenters.   

I could also bring up that on Feb. 20, the White House Instagram declared Trump a king. Although more than lacking decorum, this post is highly concerning and dangerous to the democracy of the United States. The fact that this account is claiming that our president is not a democratically elected leader but a king is concerning and, again, lacks professionalism. 

This behavior of the White House account is serious, and we shouldn’t let the Trump administration tell us otherwise. Stuff like this is never “just a joke” as MAGA has tried to claim before with other statements coming from this administration. 

Families are being torn apart, children’s lives are being turned upside down and the “chatter and taunting” about deportation that the White House account is normalizing can have such an effect that it can even lead to the end of a young girl’s life. 

The White House account must be better. They must stop treating everything like a joke and behave like the professionals they’re supposed to be.

Arien is the Opinion Editor for the University Daily Kansan. She is a junior majoring in journalism and minoring in political science. She loves writing about current events, politics, music, movie and food reviews and supporting her community. In her free time she enjoys reading, spending time with friends and family and playing with her cat.

This article was edited by Editor-in-Chief Courtney Lane. If the information in this article needs to be corrected, please contact Courtney.lane@ku.edu. We want to hear from you!