On Monday, the department's bio page for Trump saw some drastic changes, suddenly displaying the text "Donald J. Trump's term ended on 2021-01-11 19:49:00", with the similar "corrections" done for the page of US Vice President Mike Pence.
What some have already called a "glitch" or "hack" or an attempt by "a disgruntled employee" to sabotage the US State Department, has quaked social media and tormented "State Department" to worldwide trends.
Although the two webpages were swiftly taken down, the screenshots instantly flooded social media, along with baffled netizens, some of whom pondered what that could mean, and some laughing about the situation.
An archetypal "State Department staffer" who appeared to have prematurely "ended Trump's presidency" starred related Twitter threads.
The State Department staffer who changed Trumps presidential end date pic.twitter.com/QD6TcWSLsw
— Designated Dan (@Designated_Dan) January 11, 2021
Everyone to the State Department right now: pic.twitter.com/vLYokqMwkz
— Logo 🏳️🌈 (@LogoTV) January 11, 2021
Really excited for my first day as webmaster for the US State Department. Now to take a big sip of coffee and see what everybody is talking about
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) January 11, 2021
The State Department social media manager deciding to end the Trump presidency: pic.twitter.com/G3jYWhWYIh
— Sam Stryker (@sbstryker) January 11, 2021
Some random staffer at the State Department before they messed with the site: pic.twitter.com/DiUvjT26B4
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 11, 2021
New candidates were suggested for the country's leadership, as if the US presidency did not cause enough arguments over the past several years.
Today is the day the State Department website became president
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 11, 2021
Hey, @StateDept, what do you know that the rest of us don't?
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) January 11, 2021
"Donald J. Trump's term ended on 2021-01-11 19:49:00." pic.twitter.com/Ntl1BSqsb9
Some users could not resist teasing Trump after he was permanently banned from Twitter.
Twitter: I'm gonna cancel his account.
— David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) January 11, 2021
State Department: Hold my beer.
It's very telling that Donald Trump has not tweeted to clarify the State Department website announcement
— Zack Bornstein (@ZackBornstein) January 11, 2021
Others imagined the outgoing president's reaction to the State Department's bio corrections.
When Donald J. Trump looks at the State Department website: 🤡 pic.twitter.com/5TUo4e0YNr
— Cameron Grant (@BackupCoolCam) January 11, 2021
Trump lookin at the State Department website pic.twitter.com/INbkGLtYcq
— SwiftOnSecurity (@SwiftOnSecurity) January 11, 2021
While BuzzFeed reported that the venture was the result of a "disgruntled employee" and said that the State Department ordered an inside investigation into the incident, there was no official statement from the government branch.
The sneaky bio changes only fueled speculation around Trump's possible impeachment, as the resolution was rolled out by House Democrats earlier in the day.
The potential impeachment, which would be Trump's second, charges POTUS with “incitement of insurrection” after the recent attack on the US Capitol that left at least 5 people dead.
