A Halloween party which took place in an office building used by White House staff and included families of executive-branch employees and VIP guests had all the attributes of a kid-friendly event: candy and paper airplanes, interactive displays and … a station where children were supposedly encouraged to help “Build the Wall” with their own personalised bricks.
Photos of the children’s mural with the paper wall were made public by Yahoo News.
“Horrified. We were horrified,” was the response quoted from a person who attended the event and requested anonymity.
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building stands across from the White House and houses a large number of West Wing support staff and is home to the vice president’s ceremonial office.
The “Build the Wall” mural was on the first floor, and featured red paper bricks, each bearing the name of a child.
Large letters on the display spelled out “Build the Wall.”
The children, dressed as superheroes and ninjas, were given brick-coloured paper cards and instructed 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.”
Ahead of the Halloween party, offices inside the EEOB had been instructed to assemble interactive and inspiring kid-friendly displays for trick-or-treaters, addressing the party’s theme: “When I grow up I want to be…”
Needless to say, there was a considerable social media backlash after the photos of the mural went viral.
Some social media users saw nothing wrong with the interactive game the party offered the youngsters:
Some made sarcastic reference to little progress in Donald Trump’s border wall project.
Other social media users found the interactive game totally inappropriate and deplorable.
Trump's Promise to Build the Wall
In 2015, Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to build an “impenetrable and beautiful” wall along the entire 3,150-kilometre-long Mexico border an addition to existing structures, to stop illegal migrants from crossing into the US and crack down on crime.
Despite major setbacks when differences with Democratic lawmakers resulted in a month-long partial shutdown of government agencies, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border three weeks later in a move that enabled him to divert military funds toward the wall project.
The US President is seeking to build some 400 miles of border wall by next year.
Trump touted the wall as “virtually impenetrable” when he visited a construction site close to San Diego in September, according to NBC News.