The CEO of a Michigan credit union is no longer employed there, according to the organization, after she posted on social media what appeared to be an AI-generated image of her and her family wearing sweaters emblazoned with the Donald Trump-associated words “Lake America”.
In the statement recently announcing that Jane Smith would no longer be its CEO, Family First Credit Union also apologized “for the concern, disappointment and pain this situation has caused”.
Smith had been the chief executive officer of the Family First Credit Union when she posed for a family photo at the Detroit airport en route to Halifax, Canada. She reportedly used ChatGPT to edit the family’s sweaters to say Lake America, which since late August has been the name that Trump ordered the US’s federal government agencies to use for Lake Ontario amid the president’s trade war with Canada.
Smith then shared the image on Facebook on 11 September – the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US – along with the caption: “Like our sweatshirts? Not sure Canada will.”
The post ended with “Lol lol”. It went viral and then provoked backlash from people in Canada – where a portion of the lake is.
Those online users found it disrespectful, and the post has since been deleted according to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News.
Many in the comments highlighted that the post was particularly insensitive, given Halifax’s role in hosting thousands of stranded airplane passengers who were diverted there when US airspace closed on the day of the 9/11 attacks.
As the controversy intensified, Family First Credit Union – based in Saginaw, Michigan – said it was reviewing the situation. Smith, meanwhile, apologized, expressing regret, maintaining that the post was the result of poor judgment and saying that she understood why it would be offensive.
“We weren’t trying to make a political statement,” Smith told the Detroit television news station WJRT. “However, we were, you know, kind of poking fun” at the changing of the name of one of the Great Lakes.
“I understand if I was someone in Halifax and I thought a poor group of people walked in wearing those sweatshirts, it is highly offensive and I would understand why they would be so angry,” she continued in her remarks to WJRT. “I am not a person that would ever want to offend or hurt anybody.
“I do regret having any post that would make someone feel like we don’t value them as human beings.”
Despite her apology, the credit union made it clear that it had parted ways with Smith.
“Jane Smith is no longer employed by Family First Credit Union, effective immediately,” said a statement from the organization shared on social media.
After saying Smith’s interim successor would be Jason Acosta, the statement continued, “We sincerely apologize for the concern, disappointment and pain this situation has caused our members and community.
“We understand that members of our community may hold different perspectives about this decision. Our responsibility is to act in the best interest of the Credit Union, uphold the trust of our members and continue putting our community first.”
Family First Credit Union’s statement about Smith came after broader repudiation in Canada and beyond of Trump’s executive order changing Lake Ontario’s name to Lake America.
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, explained in a post on social media that the body of water’s name comes from the language of the Indigenous Wendat people – and predates both the Canadian Confederation and the US’s declaration of independence from the UK.
“Canadians … know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always,” he wrote on X.
Several US governors in the US’s Great Lakes region also dismissed the name change. Michigan borders the Canadian province of Ontario along with four of the five Great Lakes.
The only one of the Great Lakes that Michigan does not border is Lake Ontario. New York is the only US state that Lake Ontario borders.
Trump’s order has no authority to rename Canada’s portion of the lake. It also has no power to compel Canada, international legal bodies, international mapmakers or the rest of the world to adopt a new name.
