The White House Halloween Party Had Kids “Build the Wall” as a Game
On October 25, the White House hosted an annual Halloween party at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The EEOB houses the Executive Office of the President, including the vice president's offices, and White House staff in threw the party for the children of executive branch employees and VIP guests, some in the government and some not. Vice president Mike Pence attended the party to make paper airplanes with kids, but other party games were decidedly more controversial.
According to Yahoo News, kids were encouraged to build a construction paper wall based on Donald Trump's impractical and environmentally devastating border wall. Per Yahoo News:
Large letters on the display spelled out “Build the Wall.” Kids dressed as superheroes and ninjas were given brick-colored paper cards and told to write their name with a marker and tape them to the wall. Alongside the paper wall were signs including one that read “America First,” a slogan often used by President Trump that had been criticized because it was previously employed by the Ku Klux Klan.
Construction worker gear was reportedly hung nearby on hooks under a sign that read "Trump’s Crew." Despite there being many members of Trump's administration attending, one guest told Yahoo News, "Horrified. We were horrified." They requested anonymity, reportedly out of fear of professional retaliation.
This isn't the first time the White House has made questionable decisions with children for Halloween events. In 2017, Trump met with the costumed children of reporters who cover the White House, and he repeatedly made derogatory comments about their parents. "I cannot believe the media produced such beautiful children. How the media did this, I don't know." Gesturing to the reporters taking photos in the Oval Office, Trump asked the kids, "Do you know who they are? They are the friendly media."
When he gave candy to one trick-or-treater, a girl dressed as Rey from the latest Star Wars sequels, he said, "You have no weight problems, that's the good news." He followed that up with, "These are beautiful, wonderful children. Are you going to grow up and be like your parents? Mmm, don't answer that. It can only get me in trouble. You have wonderful parents, right?"
On March 15, when a white supremacist livestreamed his mass shootings of a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, a country with one of the world's lowest gun homicide rates was stunned to silence. But only momentarily. The deaths of 51 New Zealanders, mostly Muslim immigrants, would not be met with a tepid countermeasure but a swift, clear response. Sean Flynn reports from Christchurch about the day of the massacre—and the days that followed.
Originally Appeared on GQ
