By The Daily Wire (World News) | Created at 2026-09-26 00:29:22 | Updated at 2026-09-26 01:48:43
6 hours ago
Jane Smith, the now-former CEO of Family First Credit Union in Saginaw, Michigan, is no longer employed by the company after an AI-generated family photograph joking about President Donald Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario went viral and sparked an online backlash.
Smith had been preparing for a 10-day family trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia, when her family took a photograph at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Using ChatGPT, Smith altered the image to make it appear that the family was wearing matching sweatshirts emblazoned with the words “Lake America” — the name Trump ordered the federal government to use for Lake Ontario.
The image was shared publicly on Facebook earlier this month with the caption, “Like our sweatshirts? Not sure Canada will. Lol lol.”
The family never actually wore the sweatshirts. Smith told ABC12 that the photograph was meant as a joke about the renaming rather than a political statement. She said the image was originally posted privately with an indication that it had been AI-generated before her sister screenshotted it and reposted it publicly without the AI label.
Michigan CEO out of job after posting AI photo of ‘Lake America’ sweatshirts https://t.co/VSYdyN25RT pic.twitter.com/xbm3gEYkwT
— Toronto Sun (@TheTorontoSun) September 25, 2026
The joke did not land particularly well in Canada. The photograph spread online, where critics accused Smith of disrespecting Canadians. The controversy was particularly sensitive because the family was traveling to Halifax. This city famously welcomed thousands of stranded airline passengers after the September 11 terrorist attacks closed American airspace in 2001.
Smith subsequently apologized and deleted the post. “I made a mistake. I own that mistake, and I am committed to learning from it,” Smith said in an apology, adding that the image “should never have been created or shared.”
She later told ABC12 that she understood why someone in Halifax might find the photograph offensive. “I am not a person that would ever want to offend or hurt anybody,” Smith said. “I do regret having any post that would make someone feel like we don’t value them as human beings.”
Family First nonetheless announced that Smith was no longer employed by the credit union, effective immediately. Chief Operations Officer Jason Acosta was named interim CEO. The board did not say whether Smith resigned or was fired, telling CBC News that state law bars it from discussing the circumstances of her departure. The board had earlier said it “unequivocally disapproves and rejects” the social-media post.
“We sincerely apologize for the concern, disappointment and pain this situation has caused our members and community,” the credit union said on Facebook.
The episode is a remarkable illustration of how thoroughly national political disputes have seeped into institutions that once existed largely outside of politics.
Trump’s Lake America order was itself a political gesture. His August 27 executive order directed the federal government to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America and instructed federal agencies to update their maps and other references accordingly. Canada’s government rejected the name, while the dispute became another flashpoint in the increasingly contentious U.S.-Canada relationship.
That is what makes the incident larger than one ill-advised Facebook post. Americans increasingly live in an environment where political disputes no longer stay confined to elections, Congress, cable news, or social media. They can follow people into workplaces, universities, and private businesses.
Smith’s family reportedly cut its trip to Halifax short after she began receiving death threats. The photograph was deleted. Smith apologized. And now she is out of a job.
All over a sweatshirt that never existed, bearing a name for a lake that — at least for the federal government — does.
