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By Alice Gibbs
Senior Reporter
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A Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer is facing renewed scrutiny after posting a photo of a cake referring to White House adviser Stephen Miller as a “Temu Hitler,” escalating an ongoing online feud.
The post, shared by Paulina Mangubat on May 28, shows Mangubat holding a sheet cake with the message: “you ratioed Temu Hitler and also are hot,” alongside the caption, “Haters mad.” The image quickly gained traction online, drawing both criticism and support as discourse around the DNC’s social media tone intensified.
The controversy comes after the party’s official X account posted a profane reply targeting Miller, writing “shut up you ugly f***” in response to one of his posts.
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Paulina Mangubat, who describes herself as "Content & Creative for @TheDemocrats" on her X account, later posted: “Team just ratioed Stephen Miller, who is ugly, evil, cruel, and bald.”
Mangubat has since doubled down on the tone of the exchange, continuing to criticize Miller in subsequent posts while defending the party’s approach to online engagement. In a follow-up post, she again referenced the backlash, adding "I said what I said."
The controversy comes just a day after the same account deleted a Memorial Day message featuring 13 fallen U.S. service members that had prompted bipartisan criticism.
Newsweek reached out to the Democratic National Committee for comment.
The Exchange
The exchange began after the Democrats’ account posted support for Texas Senate candidate James Talarico.
Miller responded with a false claim that Democrats had nominated a transgender candidate, writing: “The Democrats made history in Texas by nominating their first transgender Senate candidate.” The remark was widely interpreted as a jab at Talarico.
Miller has since repeated the claim in additional posts, again suggesting Talarico is “transitioning,” despite there being no evidence that this is the case.
The official account replied to Miller's first post with the insult, and because the response came from the national party itself, rather than a campaign or surrogate, it has captured attention and prompted questions about who is responsible for posts published under the Democrats’ name.
Who Is Paulina Mangubat?
Mangubat is a senior digital strategist at the DNC and part of the team responsible for its social media output.
According to her LinkedIn page, she currently serves as deputy chief mobilization officer at the Democratic National Committee, and was previously the party’s digital content and creative director, overseeing rapid-response messaging and content strategy.
Mangubat, 30, graduated from Barnard College in 2017 and has held campaign roles including digital and creative director for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, where she managed social media and campaign messaging.
Reports and online commentary have linked Mangubat to the Democrats’ X account, though the account is run by a broader social media team rather than a single individual.
That team—made up of roughly a dozen staffers—has been given leeway to post quickly and shape the party’s tone online.
The latest posts, including the cake image and follow-up comments, have further blurred the line between official party messaging and personal posting, raising fresh questions about how the DNC’s digital voice is managed.
Mangubat was publicly named by Katie Miller, Stephen Miller’s spouse, who criticized the post and identified her as a person behind the account.
In a post on X, Katie Miller described Mangubat as “unmarried with no kids” and said she should “put [her] name on it,” shifting the focus from the party’s messaging to the staffer personally.
Mangubat responded publicly with a picture of herself trying on wedding dresses, adding: “Well, now seems like a good time to share that I’m getting married! We just put down the deposit on the venue and bought my dress lol.”
Politics on the Internet
The backlash followed closely on criticism of the Democrats’ official account over a now-deleted Memorial Day post that used images of 13 fallen U.S. service members killed in the Iran conflict alongside a message blaming President Donald Trump, drawing swift condemnation from both Republicans and some Democrats.
The post was removed after veterans and lawmakers—including Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth who wrote: "It is incredibly distasteful to use our heroic dead for a political attack on Memorial Day. I’m a Democrat and I condemn this post by the DNC."
These incidents reflect a wider change in how political parties and high-profile figures are using social media—particularly on platforms like X, where political communication has increasingly taken on the tone and tactics of internet meme culture.
From Trump sharing AI-generated imagery targeting political opponents to Democratic lawmakers publicly mocking rivals in real time and elected officials using events or cultural moments as backdrops for sharply worded jabs.
This style of messaging—fast, visual, and often deliberately provocative—marks a shift away from traditional, carefully structured political statements toward content designed to travel quickly across feeds and generate engagement.
Update 05/29/26, 04:30 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and a new headline.
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