The U.S. Department of Energy was mocked online after it shared a photo of President Donald Trump signing executive orders next to an image of a hand turning a light switch on—a bizarre meme that had people scratching their heads wondering what in the world the department was aiming for.
The official X account posted the meme without a caption or a comment of any kind—just one of many posts in recent days lauding the Trump administration and particularly Secretary Chris Wright for ensuring that "energy equals freedom" and that the U.S. has entered a "golden age of liquid gold."
So when whoever runs the account shared the meme, it probably wouldn't have attracted so much attention if it had made just a lick of sense.
You can see the post and the meme below.
@Energy/X
The department was mocked profusely for what many say is a childish and nonsensical meme.
The Trump administration has come under fire for using official government accounts to post strange and inappropriate memes.
Last week, Trump was criticized after he shared an AI-generated image of himself in papal attire just days after telling reporters that he'd "like to be pope" following the death of Pope Francis.
Trump said that he himself "would be my number one choice" to be the next pope after he was asked who he’d like to see become the next pontiff. That would never, ever happen—and disrespects the billions of Catholics around the world who are in mourning (a new pope has already been selected).
Nonetheless, he posted the image on his Truth Social account and it was later shared by the official White House X account as well as other social media platforms.
Similarly, the White House was widely mocked after it shared an AI image of Trump as a supposed Jedi for "Star Wars Day" to attack Democrats, only to show an utter lack of Star Wars knowledge in the process. A meme shared by Trump's social media team depicts the president styled as what appears to be a heavily muscled, patriotic Jedi—complete with a robe, American flag backdrop, and bald eagles.
However, the image includes a glaring contradiction: Trump is wielding a red lightsaber, traditionally associated with the Sith and the Dark Side in the Star Wars universe.
