A web designer in Seattle says she was “shocked” when President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday that she had “no idea” that her design work was used in the White House.
“I had to get up on the plane and do a search on my phone and see what he had said,” said Sara Wirth, who designed the T-shirt for Seattle-based designer Jodie Sweet.
“It’s hard to tell what he’s talking about because there’s no word on it.”
“I just thought that I was being told something, but I can’t find the context for it,” Wirth said, adding that she was not familiar with Trump’s tweets, which have become a frequent distraction for the president and his administration.
The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump used a tweet to accuse Wirth of plagiarism, citing her design.
Wirth has not commented publicly on the tweet, and Sweet has said that she is “deeply sorry.”
The president’s tweet comes amid a growing national debate about plagiarism in the arts and design.
In January, a former employee of Ivanka Trump’s fashion line, a subsidiary of her father’s brand, said the president was using her designs.
The White House has denied the allegations, saying the president has an “honor system” and the allegations are false.
Wuth said she was working on a project for the White Houses office of digital media when she found out about the tweet.
“My head was spinning because I was like, ‘Why?'”
Wirth told The Associated Press by phone.
“That’s when I looked at the president’s Twitter feed and saw it.
I was really confused.”
Wirth’s T-shirts were the subject of a Vanity Fair story published on Monday, describing how the designer used a design from a Trump campaign design to design a campaign shirt.
Wertheimer told the magazine that she found the story “deep” and that she has since apologized to the White White House, saying that she “misspoke.”
“It was not intended to be a direct attack,” she said.
“The design was very personal.
It’s about her.
It is a work of art and I’m not going to say it’s wrong, but the idea of me doing something like that is very distressing.”
The designer told the publication that she also wanted to share the design, which she had already made, with other designers, but “the president was like ‘You can’t do that.
You’re not a designer.
And I’m going to take it on the chin,’ she said, before saying she hoped the story would be shared with the public. “
“I just want to say, ‘Thank you for the thoughtfulness of not making it public because I want to be safe.
And I’m going to take it on the chin,’ she said, before saying she hoped the story would be shared with the public.
Withers’ story was published by the website of the Associated Press, which has become a platform for the media to scrutinize the administration.
“We’ve seen a surge in the number of stories that appear on the AP’s website, and we are pleased to report that Sara Wuth has taken swift action to apologize and retract her tweet, which was not only inaccurate, but also in violation of the APs Code of Conduct and its own policies,” a spokeswoman for the news organization said in a statement.
The AP has since removed the story, which came after Wirth issued an apology on Twitter.
“At no time did I intend to mislead anyone or to use my work for any improper purpose,” she wrote.
“If I had any misgivings about this project, I would have taken steps to address them.
I’m deeply sorry.”
Wuth did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Post.
Wuther, who is based in Portland, Ore., said she planned to send a letter to the president to apologize.
The Trump administration has repeatedly denied that it uses the Whitehouse’s resources for its own purposes.
“This is completely untrue,” the WhiteHouse said in response to the AP article.
“There are no White Houses staffers or employees who work on behalf of the administration or its departments.
In fact, the White house does not have any employees who are employed on a part-time or casual basis.”
The WhiteHouse did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wirths story.
The Associated Newseum has also received several complaints about the White houses official Twitter account.
In a tweet Monday morning, AP senior editor Ryan Grimberg wrote that the AP should investigate “any possible violations of AP standards” of accuracy.