It’s nothing new for the White House to use pop culture to try to make fascism and warmongering look super cool to those who automatically clap when they see their favorite character, but it’s usually an isolated franchise, company, or figurehead having to deal with it. Last week, however, the White House’s Twitter account posted a video featuring clips from Superman, John Wick, the MCU, and many, many other series to hype up the masses for the United States and Israel’s joint airstrikes on Iran at the end of February, but the people behind some of the characters featured in the video are speaking out, including Steven Downes, the voice of Halo’s Master Chief.
JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY. 🇺🇸🔥 pic.twitter.com/0502N6a3rL
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2026
The video, which intersperses footage and sound clips from various movies, video games, and cartoons with videos of the Iran airstrikes, has been torn to shreds online by anyone with a functioning frontal lobe, and as The Guardian points out, several actors featured in the video have been vocal critics of the Trump administration. Downes did not take kindly to his voice being used for propaganda, and released his own statement on his personal account.
It has come to my attention that there is at least one propaganda video circulating that was either produced or at the very least endorsed by the White House that uses images of Master Chief and uses my voice to support the war in Iran. Let me make this crystal clear: I did not participate in nor was I consulted, nor do I endorse the use of my voice in this video, or the message it conveys. I demand that the producers of this disgusting and juvenile war porn remove my voice immediately.
— Steve Downes (@SteveDownes117) March 8, 2026
Downes isn’t the only actor who’s weighed in on the video, as Dan Green, the actor behind Yami Yugi in the Yu-Gi-Oh anime, was also featured in the video against his will, and released a statement on his Twitter specifically calling it disrespectful to the memory of series creator Kazuki Takahashi, who died in 2022 while attempting to rescue swimmers caught in a rip current.
“It came to my attention that the White House used my voice to encourage violence in Iran,” Green writes. “Doing so tacitly implicates Kazuki Takahashi’s most beloved contribution, which continues to inspire people to become who they are, and this was presented in a way far removed from the story he was telling. Takahashi died saving others. Yu-Gi-Oh! is universal, not political. It is disrespectful to present it in any other way.”
It came to my attention that the White House used my voice to encourage violence in Iran. Doing so tacitly implicates Kazuki Takahashi’s most beloved contribution, which continues to inspire people to become who they are, and this was presented in a way far removed from the…
— Dan_Green (@DanGreenVoices) March 7, 2026
The whole thing should be embarrassing for everyone involved, but the Trump administration would have to have shame for that to be the case. Just last week, The Pokémon Company released its own statement after the White House used the Pokopia font generator meme on the life sim’s launch day to promote MAGA, but no one seems to be taking the next step and pursuing legal action. Not for the memes, anyway; Nintendo is suing the government over tariffs.
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