Anthony Peter Senecal (October 29, 1941 – April 21, 2020) was an American politician and butler. He was the

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, and also employed as the "in house historian" and tour leader at Trump's private club and part-time residence,

Mar-a-Lago Mar-a-Lago ( from the Spanish for ''sea to lake'') is a resort and national historic landmark in Palm Beach, Florida, owned by former U.S. president Donald Trump. Trump acquired Mar-a-Lago in 1985 and referred to it as his "Winter White House" ...

. In the 1990s, he was the mayor of

Martinsburg, West Virginia Martinsburg is a city in and the seat of Berkeley County, West Virginia, in the tip of the state's Eastern Panhandle region in the lower Shenandoah Valley. Its population was 18,835 in the 2021 census estimate, making it the largest city in the E ...

. He entered the public spotlight in 2016 when numerous Facebook posts he made were exposed by ''Mother Jones''. They included calls for executing

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

. Senecal endorsed Donald Trump for president. Trump called Senecal's remarks "disgusting", adding that "Mr. Senecal is obviously a very troubled man.” Trump's campaign also disavowed Senecal's views when they were made public, but Senecal was allowed to continue conducting tours at the Trump property in Florida.

Beliefs and public statements

Senecal frequently stated that President Obama is a "secret Muslim" and has called the White House the "white mosque". Senecal was questioned by the

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

about his calls for the assassination of President Obama. Afterward, he stated that Washington was too far for him to drive to kill the President, but that he hoped somebody else would do it. He said, “I think it should have been done by the military in the first term—they still have a chance to do it.” In an interview with NBC News, Senecal stated that the US should use nuclear weapons in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

to "bomb out" the Muslim populations there.

References

External links

Interview with Mr Senecal on CNN
1941 births 2020 deaths American butlers Donald Trump Donald Trump controversies Mayors of places in West Virginia Politicians from Martinsburg, West Virginia 20th-century West Virginia politicians {{WestVirginia-mayor-stub