White House Trolls Sabrina Carpenter With Second Pro-ICE Video, Alters ‘SNL’ Clip to Have Her ‘Arrest’ Marcello Hernández for ‘Being Too Illegal’

The White House digital team has once again ignited controversy by repurposing pop music for political messaging, this time targeting singer Sabrina Carpenter. Following severe backlash for using her song "Juno" in a post about ICE arrests—which was subsequently deleted—officials pivoted strategy. Instead of apologizing, they edited a clip from Carpenter's recent "Saturday Night Live" promo. In the original skit, Carpenter and Latino cast member Marcello Hernández humorously discussed arresting someone for being "too hot." The government's altered version, posted to TikTok and X, manipulated the audio to have Carpenter say "too illegal" as Hernández mimed being handcuffed.

The video was paired with a stark written warning: "PSA: If you’re a criminal illegal, you WILL be arrested & deported," before cutting to actual footage of migrant apprehensions. This incident is part of a broader pattern for the administration, which has repeatedly used popular culture to frame its immigration stance. A notable precedent occurred last November, when a montage praising former President Trump was set to Taylor Swift's "The Fate of Ophelia," a track from her 2024 album *The Tortured Poets Department*; that video remains online. Sabrina Carpenter, whose 2024 hit "Espresso" dominated the Billboard Hot 100 for weeks, has not publicly commented on this latest use of her likeness.

Carpenter's team had been fiercely critical of the initial "Juno" post. The singer herself condemned that video as "evil and disgusting" and demanded her work not be tied to what she termed an "inhumane agenda." That earlier post had synced the lyric "Have you ever tried this one?" with scenes of migrant detentions before being removed from X, though a silent version persisted on TikTok. The White House response to her criticism was notably confrontational. 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?"

This repeated co-option underscores a deliberate digital strategy designed to maximize engagement through provocation. As Dr. Lena Torres, a professor of digital media at Georgetown University, notes, "This is a textbook 'rage engagement' tactic. By deliberately antagonizing a major artist's fanbase, they ensure the content spreads virally, weaponizing the outrage to broadcast a policy message far beyond their own core audience." The pattern indicates the administration's digital operation is intentionally testing boundaries, leveraging the mechanics of viral pop culture to promote divisive policies, regardless of creator consent or the ethical implications of misleading edits. This approach risks further eroding trust in official communications while simultaneously ensuring the administration's messaging achieves widespread, if contentious, visibility.