What is "Keep Iowa Great" Hat Flight Photograph?

It is a viral February 2020 image of Trump 2020 campaign officials wearing red "Keep Iowa Great" MAGA-style hats on a plane after the Iowa Caucuses, with Ben Carson awkwardly crouched in the center aisle.

Where did "Keep Iowa Great" Hat Flight Photograph come from?

Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh tweeted the photo on February 4th, 2020, intending it as a taunt about the Democrats' failed caucus app.

What does "Keep Iowa Great" Hat Flight Photograph mean?

Online, the image was read as an accidental admission of Trump world's lack of racial diversity, with Carson's aisle pose framed as a token placement joke.

How do you use "Keep Iowa Great" Hat Flight Photograph?

People typically quote-tweet or caption the photo with jokes about Carson's crouched position, the all-white cabin, or Mulvaney's grim expression, often invoking "Sunken Place" humor.

Is "Keep Iowa Great" Hat Flight Photograph still popular?

The image is now a classic 2020 political meme referenced when discussing Trump-era optics, though its peak virality was the 48 hours after Murtaugh's post.

"Keep Iowa Great" Hat Flight Photograph

2020image macroclassic

Published November 15, 2026

On February 4th, 2020, Trump 2020 campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh posted a photo of White House officials wearing red "Keep Iowa Great" hats on a flight home from the Iowa Caucuses. The taunt backfired within hours, as Twitter users zeroed in on Secretary Ben Carson crouched in the center aisle while the all-white rest of the plane sat in proper seats. By that evening, Carson's name was trending on Twitter and the image was being mocked across Mashable, Complex and HuffPost.

backfire memes trump memes political satire memes viral photo memes race and identity memes

Overview

The photograph shows a cluster of Trump 2020 campaign officials and Cabinet members packed into a plane cabin, all wearing red hats reading "Keep Iowa Great" instead of the usual MAGA slogan1. The group included Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, with Housing Secretary Ben Carson perched awkwardly on an armrest in the center aisle in the middle of the frame3.

Mockery of the image centered on two visual quirks: Mulvaney's flat, unhappy expression next to Wilbur Ross's wide grin, and Carson's half-crouch between the rows3. Captioned versions riffed on Carson being the only Black person in the shot, with jokes about diversity optics, tokenism and the "Sunken Place" from Jordan Peele's Get Out3. Mainstream outlets including Mashable1, Complex4 and HuffPost3 wrote up the reaction within 24 hours of the original tweet.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Twitter

Creator

Tim Murtaugh

Date

2020

Catalyst event: On February 3rd, 2020, the Iowa Democratic Caucuses melted down after a reporting app failed to deliver results on time1. The next day, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh tweeted the plane photo with the caption, "@TeamTrump headed home after CRUSHING it in Iowa. Record turnout for an incumbent president. So much winning. Didn't have time to pay attention, so how'd it go for the Democrats? Everything go off without a hitch?"2.

The post was explicitly a troll aimed at the Democrats' app meltdown1. Know Your Meme logged the tweet at more than 3,000 likes and 760 retweets inside its first day9. Within a few hours, attention shifted away from Murtaugh's intended burn and onto the composition of the photo itself, specifically where Ben Carson was standing1.

How It Spread

By the afternoon of February 4th, 2020, Ben Carson's name was trending on Twitter as users zoomed in on his aisle-crouch pose1. Journalist Oliver Willis tweeted, "… and starring ben carson as 'the black one,'" picking up over 6,100 likes in 24 hours5. Comedian and activist Kristina Wong wrote, "'If we make BEN CARSON awkwardly stand squat in the aisle, it will make it less obvious that everyone on this bus is white,'" and cleared 10,000 likes the same day6.

Former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill posted the most-shared reaction of the day: "One of these things is not like the others. Hint: they made him squat in the aisle so he was visible," which drew more than 11,000 likes and 2,400 retweets7. Donald Trump Jr. fired back at McCaskill, insisting that Carson had been seated in First Class with his family and later posted a follow-up photo of empty first-class seats as proof8. His defense tweet far outperformed any of the jokes, with over 124,000 likes and 34,000 retweets9.

HuffPost cataloged a wider set of Twitter jokes about the image, including "Sunken Place" references and gags treating Mulvaney as a hostage because of his frown3. Complex noted that the ridicule landed during Black History Month, which sharpened the diversity critique4.

Timeline

2020-02-03

Iowa Democratic Caucuses are thrown into chaos after a results-reporting app fails, setting up the political context for the photo.

2020-02-04

Trump 2020 communications director Tim Murtaugh tweets the plane photo at midday with a taunt aimed at the Democrats' caucus meltdown.

2020-02-04

Oliver Willis, Kristina Wong and Claire McCaskill post the three most-shared mockery tweets, pushing Ben Carson's name into Twitter's trending list.

2020-02-04

Donald Trump Jr. replies to McCaskill claiming Carson was seated in First Class, racking up 124,000 likes and becoming the single most-engaged post in the thread.

2020-02-05

Mashable, Complex and HuffPost publish write-ups collecting the viral jokes and Trump Jr.'s rebuttal.