Former Trump butler calls for Obama's execution on Facebook

Donald Trump may have offended plenty of people with his presidential campaign rhetoric, but even the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s foulest language is no match for the harsh words spouted by one of Trump’s oldest and most loyal servants.

Mother Jones revealed Thursday that Anthony Senecal, Trump’s former butler, has authored several hateful — and vulgar — Facebook rants against Barack Obama, accusing the president of being a Muslim and a “kenyan fraud,” among other things, and calling for him to be killed.

When questioned by Mother Jones about the caustic screed, Senecal confirmed, “I wrote that. I believe that.”

While a Trump campaign spokeswoman told the magazine, “this individual has not worked at Mar-a-Lago for many years,” Senecal’s LinkedIn page states he has been the Palm Beach estate’s historian from May 2009 to present, “Continuing in a position created by Donald J Trump, the owner of the Mar-a-Lago Estate/Club,” according to his page.

Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks later repudiated Senecal’s sentiments in a statement published by CNN and other news outlets Thursday afternoon.

“Tony Senecal has not worked at Mar-a-Lago for years, but nevertheless, we totally and completely disavow the horrible statements made by him regarding the president,” Hicks stated.

In March, Senecal was the subject of a New York Times profile that offered unique insight into Trump’s world through the man who served him for nearly three decades. In the Times story — which also described Senecal’s transition, at Trump’s insistence, from Mar-a-Lago butler to unofficial historian following his retirement 2009 — is filled with details both fascinating and banal about the presidential hopeful, from his preference for rock-hard steak to his penchant for white lies and exaggerations.

Based on Senecal’s references to Trump as “the king” and anecdotes such as one about the time he hired a bugler to play “Hail to the Chief” to lift his boss’ spirits, the Times story suggests that the former butler has long been ready for a Trump White House. The piece also alluded to Senecal’s contempt for Democratic rival candidate Hillary Clinton, simply noting that during his interview with the paper, Senecal “offered a profane description for Mrs. Clinton, the frontrunner in the Democratic presidential race.”

Senecal’s latest Facebook post, published by Mother Jones on Thursday, offers a clue as to what that description may have been.

“I cannot believe that a common murder [sic] is even allowed to run (killery clinton),” reads one line in the post that is laced with expletives and exclamation points.

The Mother Jones story includes screenshots of several other threatening posts dating back more than a year, including one from April 21, 2015, in which Senecal — who reportedly admitted to having been suspended from Facebook in the past — declares that Obama “needs to be hung for treason!!!”

Following the rapid circulation of the Mother Jones report Thursday afternoon, NBC Politics reporter Alexandra Jaffe tweeted a statement from the Secret Service regarding Senecal’s calls for the president’s execution. “The U.S. Secret Service is aware of this matter and will conduct the appropriate investigation,” the statement reads.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Senecal has also worked as a butler and door greeter at the Cedric DuPont Antique Gallery in West Palm Beach since 2010. The gallery’s website appears to have hosted a blog until March of this year. One now defunct post appears to be about Senecal’s many years at Mar-a-Lago, and even includes a quote from Trump on his former employee.

“Tony Senecal is in a class by himself,” reads the quote attributed to Trump, found in a cached version of the blog post. “His knowledge of the history of Mar-a-Lago is unequaled, and his passion for it was always evident. Tony has an innate talent for doing things before being asked, and for doing them superbly. He had the ability to be far ahead of the curve, which is something I greatly appreciated. There is no one like Tony!”