Theo Von balks at cameo in Trump immigration hype video

WASHINGTON (CN) — “Heard you got deported, dude — bye.”

Those were the words, spoken by podcaster and comedian Theo Von in a seven-second clip, which sparked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s latest brush with a pop culture icon as it undertakes an unusual social media campaign aimed at promoting President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.

The short video, which initially circulated online in January and was reportedly made for a fan of the “This Past Weekend” podcast host, was posted Tuesday by the Homeland Security Department’s X account. The clip bookended a montage, set to feel-good music, touting the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.

The since-deleted post features statistics such as “2 million in 250 days” and “1,600,000 million self-deported & 400,000 deportations," references to unverified immigration arrest figures.

“LEAVE NOW,” the video’s end text read, placed over footage of an airliner taking off.

The Homeland Security Department’s use of Von’s image to promote White House immigration policy spurred criticism from some online, including the comedian himself who demanded that the agency take its video down.

“Yooo DHS I didn’t approve to be used in this,” he wrote in a response on X Tuesday night. “I know you know my address so send a check. And please take this down and please keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos.”

Von, who was present at Trump’s January inauguration and has interviewed the president on his podcast alongside other political figures, added that his thoughts on immigration were “more nuanced” than what was shown in the seven-second clip used by Homeland Security.

The offending video compilation was removed from the agency’s X and Instagram pages on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department did not immediately return a request for comment on Von’s comments or whether he had formally requested the agency remove his likeness from the video.

In the first nine months of Trump’s second term, the White House has relentlessly pursued the president’s campaign promise to undertake what he has called the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history.

The White House has set a goal to deport one million people a year — and between a significant recruitment push for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and a massive $75 billion cash infusion approved by lawmakers over the summer, Trump has doubled immigration arrests from the Joe Biden administration.

But support among Americans for the Trump administration’s immigration blitz is underwater, according to recent polls. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted last week shows approval for Trump’s immigration policy at 43%, just a few points above the president’s overall approval rating which stands at 39%. Another poll published last week by the Washington Post and Ipsos showed approval for the White House immigration agenda at 44%.

In spite of those figures, the Homeland Security Department has been on a social media content blitz to promote the Trump administration’s mass deportations. The unusual push has relied heavily on internet memes and popular culture — and has on more than one occasion gotten the agency into hot water.

Days before the Homeland Security Department courted controversy with Von, its official X account posted a similar montage set to the theme of Pokémon, the massively popular anime, trading card game and video game. The video is interspersed with clips from the anime and visuals of federal agents in tactical gear blowing doors off hinges and placing people in handcuffs.

Homeland Security captioned the compilation with the phrase “gotta catch ‘em all,” referencing Pokémon’s ubiquitous tagline. The agency followed its video up with images of immigration detainees on Pokémon trading cards, featuring details of their arrests and the crimes they’ve been charged with.

Pokémon is owned by Japanese firm The Pokémon Company, a subsidiary of Nintendo. Though Nintendo is famously strict with its intellectual property, the company has not publicly acknowledged the use of Pokémon imagery in Homeland Security promotional material.

Don McGowan, former chief legal officer for The Pokémon Company, told gaming publication IGN on Tuesday that he did not think the firm would take legal action against the U.S. government, primarily because it has historically avoided publicity. But he also suggested that any lack of action could be related to the immigration status of some of its top staff.

“[M]any of their execs in the USA are on green cards,” he told IGN. “Even if I was still at the company I wouldn’t touch this, and I’m the most trigger-happy CLO … I’ve ever met.”

The Homeland Security Department did not return a request for comment on whether it had been contacted by The Pokémon Company or Nintendo regarding its social media posts.

The agency in August came to blows with another pop culture icon — the IndyCar motor racing series — after it announced it had signed a deal with Indiana Governor Mike Braun to expand a federal prison in the state to house immigration detainees.

To promote the project, nicknamed the “speedway slammer” due to its proximity to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Homeland Security Department published an AI-generated image of an IndyCar-style race car in an ICE livery speeding around a track outside a prison. The car featured the racing number “5,” which in real life belongs to Mexican-born IndyCar driver Patricio O’Ward.

A spokesperson for IndyCar told Courthouse News at the time that the racing championship had not approved the use of its intellectual property to promote the Trump administration’s proposed immigration detention center. The organization asked the Homeland Security Department not to use IndyCar imagery going forward.

But the agency was unrepentant, telling Courthouse News that it was “absurd” to suggest that its AI-powered IndyCar promo was a violation of the championship’s intellectual property rights. “DHS will continue promoting the ‘Speedway Slammer’ as a comprehensive and collaborative approach to combatting illegal immigration,” a spokesperson said.

The Homeland Security Department later deleted its original post featuring the “speedway slammer” race car but subsequently uploaded a new image featuring an entire field of similar vehicles on a racetrack. Missing from the repost was O’Ward’s racing number.

Later that month, during the Trump administration’s federal takeover of Washington, D.C., Homeland Security’s X account posted a flashy hype video featuring several new ICE vehicles driving in formation around the capital, set to the song “TOES” by rapper DaBaby. The trucks, which include a Ford F-150 Raptor pickup and GMC Yukon SUV, were printed with the phrase “Defend the Homeland” and the president’s name.

A Courthouse News analysis revealed that the Homeland Security Department spent more than $1 million on the new vehicles and their graphic wraps. A spokesperson for the agency said at the time that they would be used to supplement the existing ICE fleet.

And Homeland Security’s internet-pilled content blitz has been repeatedly hampered by copyright strikes from musicians and artists that have removed the sound from some of the agency’s pop culture-inspired videos, rendering them silent.

The social media push also comes as some advocacy groups are warning about the agency’s use of white nationalist imagery and language in its recruitment materials.

Southern Poverty Law Center watchdog group Hatewatch reported in August that the agency’s social media accounts have published a “barrage” of graphics that utilized overt nationalist imagery and racist dog whistles.

The organization pointed to an Aug. 11 post which featured the caption “Which Way, American Man,” an apparent reference to the antisemitic book “Which Way, Western Man?” Written in 1978 by white nationalist William Simpson, the book claims that white Christians are threatened by racial integration plotted by Jewish people.

Homeland Security has denied that its posts nod to white nationalist ideology.

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