The White House’s social media team had to back down this week on including Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Juno” in a post touting ICE’s migrant arrests — but they’re hardly going away quietly. Shortly after deleting the initial X post, the administration snapped back by posting a new clip of Carpenter doing a commercial for her recent “Saturday Night Live” appearance, with the audio overdubbed so that she appears to be calling cast member Marcello Hernández “illegal” instead of “hot.”
In the original, unaltered “SNL” commercial, Carpenter stood alongside Hernández and said, “I think I might need to arrest someone for being too hot.” “Oh well, I turn myself in,” responded Hernández, extending his hands, as if to be cuffed. “You’re under arrest!” she cooed. But with the White House’s alteration of the clip, the overdubbed audio now has a voice like Carpenter’s saying “…too illegal,” as the highly popular Latino cast member puts his wrists out.
The caption for the TikTok and X video reads: “PSA: If you’re a criminal illegal, you WILL be arrested & deported.” Following the altered footage of Carpenter and Hernández’s repartee, the remainder of the White House’s post — as with the previous, now-deleted video that appropriated Carpenter’s music — consists of footage of immigrants being chased down and arrested.
Carpenter’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the case of the previous video with the “Juno” soundtrack, Carpenter made her feelings clear, writing, “This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”
The earlier video consisted of the repetition of the “Juno” lyric “Have you ever tried this one?” accompanying shots of migrants being tackled and detained. It’s not known whether the White House voluntarily deleted the tweet; a version of it on TikTok remained, with the contentious audio removed.
The White House’s initial response to the pop superstar’s objection to having her music used as a soundtrack for the video was to mockingly use Carpenter’s lyrics against her, in a statement. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson told CNN: “Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: we won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?”
The White House has seemingly delighted in taunting pop stars and their fans with posts twisting their messages to support pro-ICE or pro-Trump videos. On Nov. 3, the administration’s social media posted a video using Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” as the soundtrack for a Trump-glorifying montage. That video remains online.
