Donald Trump’s newest White House press aide had barely announced her new job before an old photograph began racing across social media.
Beni Rae Harmony, 24, was pictured holding a rifle while wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with a profane message aimed at then-President Joe Biden.
The image dates back to 2021.
Now it is receiving new attention because Harmony has just joined the White House as an assistant press secretary and spokesperson.
Harmony announced the appointment Friday, saying she was leaving her role covering the administration for conservative network Real America’s Voice.
“I’m incredibly grateful to President Trump for this opportunity and his trust,” she wrote while announcing the move.
She said she was looking forward to serving the American people and continuing to fight for the “American Dream.”
Within hours, critics began circulating the older photograph.
It shows Harmony posing with a firearm while wearing a shirt reading “F— Joe Biden.”
The image was originally posted on Instagram in 2021 by Jarome Bell, a Republican who later ran for Congress in Virginia.
Bell identified Harmony in the caption as his campaign’s public affairs director.
“My campaign Public Affairs Director @beniraeharmony is a beast,” he wrote.
“This is how we roll.”
Harmony’s Instagram account also liked the post, according to screenshots reported by The Independent and The Daily Beast.
The photograph does not establish that Harmony threatened Biden or committed any crime.
There is also nothing inherently unlawful about posing with a legally possessed firearm or wearing a political slogan.
But the image has attracted attention because Harmony now holds an official communications role in the White House.
Her job will involve helping speak publicly on behalf of the president and his administration.
That gives her previous political activity a different level of scrutiny.
Harmony’s path to the White House has been unusually direct.
Before joining the administration, she spent roughly a year working for Real America’s Voice, a conservative television network closely aligned with Trump’s political movement.
She covered the White House and became increasingly visible around Trump’s travel schedule.
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly praised Harmony as a “trusted voice for the MAGA movement.”
Kelly said Harmony would be an “outstanding addition” to Trump’s communications operation.
Harmony’s recent proximity to Trump had already attracted attention before her hiring.
She traveled with the press corps during Trump’s September trip to Ireland.
She was also part of the press contingent during his trip to Tennessee for the Texas-Tennessee college football game.
Real America’s Voice took CNN’s place aboard Air Force One for that trip after the administration’s escalating dispute with several major news organizations.
Harmony joined Real America’s Voice after leaving WICS-ABC20 in Springfield, Illinois, in 2025.
She said she had been suspended after delivering an unscheduled on-air tribute to conservative activist Charlie Kirk following his killing.
Harmony subsequently resigned.
She described the tribute as nonpartisan and said Kirk had been a mentor to her.
Before entering television journalism, Harmony had already accumulated experience inside Republican politics.
She worked for Turning Point USA and held internships connected to Republican lawmakers Paul Gosar and Matt Gaetz, according to biographical accounts and her professional history.
Her connection to Bell’s campaign fits that pattern.
Although her publicly cited résumé reportedly describes the position only as work for a “U.S. Political Campaign,” the dates and responsibilities overlap with Bell’s Virginia congressional effort.
Bell’s original Instagram post directly identified her as his public affairs director.
Harmony now enters the West Wing during a period of turnover inside Trump’s press operation.
Karoline Leavitt left the White House press secretary role at the end of August, saying she wanted to devote more time to her young family.
The administration has not yet named a permanent replacement.
Vice President JD Vance and other officials have occasionally handled briefings while the position remains open.
Harmony has not been named press secretary.
Her new title is assistant press secretary.
But the role still places her inside the machinery responsible for explaining White House policies, responding to controversies and communicating Trump’s message to the public.
That is why the resurfaced photograph has become more than an old social-media curiosity.
Political operatives often have partisan histories.
White House communications staffers are also, by definition, political appointees.
But a photograph combining a firearm with an explicit insult directed at a former president creates an unusually provocative image for someone now serving as an official government spokesperson.
Harmony has not publicly suggested the photograph represented a threat.
Nor has the White House indicated that the image affects her appointment.
Instead, administration officials have emphasized her loyalty to Trump and her experience covering his presidency.
Her transition also illustrates the increasingly blurred boundary between pro-Trump media personalities and administration personnel.
One week Harmony was covering the White House.
The next, she was joining the team she had been reporting on.
And almost immediately, a photograph from her earlier political life followed her through the door.
A rifle in her hands.
A profane message about a Democratic president across her chest.
And a new title that means every old image now comes with considerably more scrutiny.
