{"id":2518848,"date":"2025-12-08T15:27:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T20:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-administration-persists-with-franklin-the-turtle-social-media-use\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T15:27:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T20:27:46","slug":"trump-administration-persists-with-franklin-the-turtle-social-media-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-administration-persists-with-franklin-the-turtle-social-media-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration persists with Franklin the Turtle social media use"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-administration-persists-with-franklin-the-turtle-social-media-use%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2518848&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Trump administration has continued its controversial use of the children&#8217;s character Franklin the Turtle in a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >social media campaign<\/a>. the U.S. Education department, along with other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gov-whitmer-media-caught-in-another-lie-anarchist-arrested-for-plot-to-kidnap-and-kill-whitmer-hates-president-trump-trump-is-a-tyrant-video\/\" title=\"Gov. Whitmer, Media Caught in Another Lie - Anarchist Arrested For Plot to Kidnap and Kill Whitmer Hates President Trump, &#039;Trump is a Tyrant&#039; (VIDEO)\">federal agencies<\/a>, posted satirical images featuring Franklin to promote their agendas. Such as, the Education Department shared a fake Franklin book cover titled &#8220;Franklin Knows the Department of Education Doesn&#8217;t Do Any Educating,&#8221; echoing Education Secretary Linda McMahon&#8217;s stance that the department itself doesn&#8217;t educate children. Similar posts were made by the Department of Health and Human Services highlighting healthy eating with Franklin.<\/p>\n<p>These unauthorized uses of Franklin, a beloved Canadian icon known for promoting kindness and inclusivity, have been condemned by the original publisher, Kids can Press, who denounced the campaign for contradicting the character&#8217;s values. The trend began in november with War Secretary Pete Hegseth posting an image of Franklin engaged in military action, which also drew criticism. The campaign has sparked important backlash for appropriating a children&#8217;s character for political messaging.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump administration persists with Franklin the Turtle social media campaign<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2427010\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The Education Department joined the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/watch\/2427010\/\"><em>Franklin the Turtle<\/em> social media campaign<\/a> on Monday, alongside other federal departments.<\/p>\n<p>On X, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-plan-to-inject-social-justice-into-high-school-math-on-hold-after-backlash\/\" title=\"California Plan To Inject \u2018Social Justice\u2019 Into High School Math On Hold After Backlash\">department posted<\/a> a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-were-university-of-michigan-football-fans-featured-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine\/\" title=\"FACT CHECK: Were University Of Michigan Football Fans Featured On The Cover Of Time Magazine?\">fake cover<\/a> of a <em>Franklin the Turtle<\/em> book titled &ldquo;Franklin Knows the Department of Education Doesn&rsquo;t Do Any Educating.&rdquo; Franklin is pictured sitting in what appears to be a classroom, reading a book with an American flag hoisted behind him.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3910695\/watch-live-trump-roundtable-12-billion-dollar-farm-aid-plan\/\">WATCH LIVE: Trump holds roundtable on $12 billion farm aid plan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3910271\/trump-urged-keep-up-campaign-europe-extraterritorial-esg-mandates\/\">Trump urged to keep up campaign on Europe&#8217;s extraterritorial ESG mandates<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3910250\/democrats-wrong-trump-not-on-top-of-affordability-salena-zito\/\">Democrats are wrong that Trump &#8216;is not on top of&#8217; affordability: Salena Zito<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Franklin knows what the Department of Education does. Do you? <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JFPkdc5Iys\">pic.twitter.com\/JFPkdc5Iys<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/usedgov\/status\/1998037365747790276?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 8, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Education Secretary Linda McMahon is committed to diminishing the department, which <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/3356275\/returning-education-states-fewer-strings-regulations-red-tape-mcmahon\/\">she said<\/a> &ldquo;does not educate one child.&rdquo; President Donald Trump <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3353848\/trump-executive-order-shut-down-education-department-official\/\">made it clear<\/a> that it will still handle &ldquo;Pell Grants, Title I funding, [and] resources for children with disabilities and special needs.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>This post followed that of the Department of Health and Human Services, which posted an image on Sunday of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/3909978\/hhs-uses-franklin-imagery-despite-publisher-objections\/\">Franklin grocery shopping<\/a> under the title &ldquo;Franklin avoids ultra-processed foods.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Franklin avoids ultra-processed foods. A healthy diet starts with real, whole ingredients. Franklin wants to Make America Healthy Again.&nbsp;Be like Franklin. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/l0mnBB93yJ\">pic.twitter.com\/l0mnBB93yJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; HHS (@HHSGov) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HHSGov\/status\/1997728182993305736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 7, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>These posts come in direct opposition to the publisher of <em>Franklin the Turtle<\/em>, which condemned &ldquo;unauthorized use&rdquo; of its character almost a week ago.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity,&rdquo; Kids Can Press <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KidsCanPress\/status\/1995629217506312197?s=20\">wrote<\/a>. &ldquo;We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin&rsquo;s name or image, which directly contradicts these values.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The statement from Kids Can Press followed War Secretary Pete Hegseth&rsquo;s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3902483\/white-house-hegseth-survivors-boat-strike-caribbean-legal\/\">first post to start the trend<\/a> in November. Hegseth shared an image of Franklin in a helicopter, shooting down at &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/colombia-recalls-us-ambassador-amid-drug-feud-with-trump\/\" title=\"Colombia recalls US ambassador amid drug feud with Trump\">narco-terrorists&#038;rdquo<\/a>; with a firearm. Franklin is depicted with American flag badges.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">For your Christmas wish list&hellip; <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pLXzg20SaL\">pic.twitter.com\/pLXzg20SaL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PeteHegseth\/status\/1995291042346852861?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/beltway-confidential\/3903076\/pete-hegseth-should-demote-franklin-the-turtle\/\"><strong>OPINION: PETE HEGSETH SHOULD DEMOTE FRANKLIN THE TURTLE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Franklin the Turtle<\/em> author Paulette Bourgeois published her first book on the character in 1989. Before that, the Canadian author <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kidscanpress.com\/Creators\/paulette-bourgeois\/\">lived in Washington, D.C., for a time<\/a> as a freelance writer.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> reached out to Kids Can Press for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump admin continues Franklin the Turtle social media campaign<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2631,"featured_media":2518849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AP25020782367419.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[68447,35636,32364,3634,32640],"class_list":["post-2518848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-franklin-the-turtle","tag-persistence","tag-social-media","tag-trump","tag-trump-administration"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AP25020782367419.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2518848"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2518852,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518848\/revisions\/2518852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2518849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2518848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2518848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2518848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}