The Department of Homeland Security sparked attention on Monday night after posting a photo of President Donald Trump with the caption, “Did you remain loyal?”
The post was in response to a screenshot of numerous Insider Wire posts about Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Trump administration’s plans to revoke visas of asylum-seekers, and mail-in ballot restrictions. People on social media responded with fierce criticism, saying the post appears to be “about trying to scare people who don’t support trump” and emphasizing that they’re loyal “to the Constitution, not a man.”
The DHS tweet’s message of loyalty fits into Trump’s broader obsession with the attribute — one that predates his current administration. And the concept of loyalty in government isn’t new either.
“There’s a long history of loyalty tests and loyalty checking in the government, dating back to probably before the Civil War,” Tevi Troy, an author and U.S. deputy secretary of health and human services under former President George W. Bush, told HuffPost.
Typically, the presidential loyalty-sorting effort — a part of the transition — involves checking to ensure candidates will adapt to what the new administration is looking for. “During the Bush years, [it was asking people] ‘Did you work for McCain?’ That kind of stuff — ‘Who did you work for, would you [still] represent [them]?’” Troy said.
