The White House Put a MAGA Hat on SpongeBob. Fans Pointed Out One Awkward Detail.
The White House Put a MAGA Hat on SpongeBob. Fans Pointed Out One Awkward Detail.
Tracey Johnson Wed, July 15, 2026 at 5:45 PM UTC
0
The White House marked SpongeBob Day with a MAGA-themed meme, but fans quickly pointed out the hidden joke behind the cartoon's famous hat. (Image Credits: Flickr/Gage Skidmore)
The White House added a bit of whimsy to their day and posted in honor of SpongeBob Day. The post quickly went viral, but not for the reason they probably expected.
To celebrate #SpongeBobDay, the official White House X account shared an edited image of SpongeBob SquarePants wearing the cartoon’s famous soda-drink hat, replacing its original logo with President Donald Trump’s “MAGA” slogan. The colorful image was different from the White House’s usual posts, with replies and comments coming in at a rapid pace.
The message seemed to provoke many fans and many of them weighed in on the post. But it was longtime SpongeBob fans who spotted what many thought was a rather ironic twist.
The image came from the classic Season 3 episode “One Krabs Trash,” where SpongeBob proudly wears the hat after Mr. Krabs sells it to him. The punchline, fans pointed out, is that the hat, that he wanted so badly, ultimately turned out to be worthless.
“The joke of the episode was that those hats were stupid and worthless,” one commenter wrote, a response that had many diehard followers agreeing on the sidelines.
And it wasn’t just the hat that had netizens debating about the animation character. Others argued that SpongeBob himself was an unusual choice to represent the MAGA movement.
“SpongeBob’s entire personality is kindness, empathy, inclusion, protecting the environment, and helping complete strangers,” one user wrote. “That’s a pretty tough character to turn into a MAGA mascot.”
Another simply added, “He would NEVER.”
The Trump administration’s edited image also had users who joked about the White House adding its own watermark to artwork based on a Nickelodeon cartoon.
“Omg they watermarked it,” one person wrote.
Advertisement
Since the White House edited the image for their own purposes, others responded with their own edited versions of the meme, including one that changed the slogan on SpongeBob’s hat and another showing a dumpster filled with MAGA hats.
Several fans also asked Nickelodeon to respond to the meme, with some questioning if the cartoon character should be used in political messaging at all.
“Get your filthy hands off the Bob,” one person wrote, while another added, “Do not deface the Bob like this ever again.”
But not everyone saw the post negatively, and appreciated it. Some supporters praised the meme, while others argued critics were overreacting and accused them of missing the joke.
More and more, the White House is using internet memes and pop culture references on social media during Trump’s second term, and it has been an effective tool for the administration.
This also isn’t the president’s first SpongeBob-themed post. In 2025, Trump shared a SpongeBob meme on Truth Social mocking federal employees after workers were asked to weekly list their achievements. That image showed SpongeBob holding a notebook titled “Got Done Last Week,” with a list including “Read some emails” and “Cried about Trump.”
This time around, the joke was on Trump’s administration who unknowingly chose an image whose original joke undercut the message it was trying to send.
Read more at Morning Honey.
Get Morning Honey delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.
FOLLOW MORNING HONEY ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, entertainment, and pop culture via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
