White House's use of internet memes to promote Iran war sparks criticism

Geoff Bennett:

From video game clips to cartoon characters to blockbuster movie scenes, the administration's Iran messaging has embraced a style that critics say blurs the line between propaganda and entertainment and risks reducing a real war to spectacle.

White House correspondent Liz Landers reports.

Liz Landers:

As the war continues in the skies over Iran, the Trump administration has opened an usual front here at home, the Internet meme battlefield.

Robert Downey Jr., Actor:

Wake up. Daddy's home.

Liz Landers:

A post titled Justice the American Way that features a montage of movie clips from films like "Iron Man," "Gladiator," "Top Gun" and other action movies has been viewed more than 64 million times on X since it was posted two weeks ago.

Actor:

Time to find out.

Liz Landers:

Other videos feature rap songs...

Actor:

You want to see me do it again?

Liz Landers:

... and cartoon characters.

The White House has also turned to sports, sharing videos featuring baseball stars hitting home runs and football tackles interspersed with battlefield explosions set to music.

Roger Stahl, Professor of Communication Studies, University of Georgia: What we're seeing from the White House is what you might call a sizzle reel of weapon strikes footage.

Liz Landers:

Roger Stahl is a professor of communication studies at the University of Georgia specializing in propaganda, war and pop culture.

Roger Stahl:

There are no human beings. There are no schoolchildren to be incinerated. There's no suggestion that people are suffering on the other end. So you get on the one hand fantasy material that is framing the weapon strikes and kind of sanitization of war as it's being presented through the gun camera.

Liz Landers:

The videos are amplified across social media by both official government accounts and Trump supporters.

One of the most controversial posts opens with imagery from the video game "Call of Duty" and then cuts to actual U.S. war footage. The video was eventually taken down, but not before it was viewed more than 50 million times.

Actor:

We're winning this fight.

Liz Landers:

Kristopher Purcell served in the Bush White House communication shop during the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003.

Kristopher Purcell, Former Bush White House Aide:

"Call of Duty" is not real life. It's a game.And war has very, very real consequences, not just for our service members, but for Iranian civilians. And this gamification of war is really appalling, especially when you consider the administration's typical response to mass shootings, which is to blame violent video games and movies.

Liz Landers:

The White House defends the strategy as a modern way to communicate with younger audiences and highlight military successes.

They told us in a statement in part -- quote -- "The legacy media wants us to apologize for highlighting the United States military's incredible success, but the White House will continue showcasing the many examples of Iran's ballistic missiles, production facilities, and dreams of owning a nuclear weapon being destroyed in real time."

And social media videos are only part of the Trump administration messaging.

Pete Hegseth, U.S. Defense Secretary:

We're winning decisively with brutal efficiency, total air dominance, and an unbreakable will to accomplish the president's objectives on our timeline. We stay locked on the target because here at the Department of War that's our job.

Liz Landers:

In contrast to Secretary Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine offers a more sober tone.

Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff: To our Gold Star families, to our wounded warriors and their loved ones, we will never forget your sacrifice.

Liz Landers:

The meme videos are an effort to generate public support for a war that polls say remains unpopular. Our PBS News/NPR/Marist poll this month found that a majority of Americans, 56 percent, oppose U.S. military action in Iran.

Do you think part of the intention behind these videos is to distract the public from what's happening?

Roger Stahl:

This war is presenting all kinds of problems with shipping lanes and the economy and gas prices and dead troops and civilians. And the Trump administration would not like to talk about any of these. And so they want to change the topic and distract as much as possible. And I think getting the media and the American public talking about an unconventional messaging campaign might be the best way to do that.

Liz Landers:

The messaging strategy is a sharp departure from past presidents like George W. Bush.

Kristopher Purcell:

In the lead-up to the Iraq War, of course, the Bush administration spent many, many months building coalition support, going through the U.N. There was significant discussions with Congress.

All of these things took a lot of time and a lot of effort. And what we have seen from the Trump administration is really no warning, no public discussion, no public debate, no gathering of allies.

Liz Landers:

As the war drags on, so do ceremonies like this. In all, 13 American service members have died since the fighting began in Iran and nearly 200 wounded, according to U.S. Central Command.

For military families, the war isn't just headlines. It's personal. Karee and Jim White, both Army veterans themselves, know the toll of war firsthand. Seven of their nine children have served. Their daughter, Kimmy, was severely injured in Afghanistan in 2014, requiring full-time care. Their son, Campion, just graduated from Army Ranger school.

Karee White, Military Family Member:

You can't have a clean war. Wars can get messy fast. And I think this administration -- I want to think this administration values, that we can't have a lengthy war.

Jim White, Military Family Member:

There's no question that this -- going down this path has a -- has massive consequences for the people who participate in it.

Liz Landers:

Karee White says she hopes the social media images the administration is using don't dismiss the dangers of war.

Karee, have you seen any of those videos?

Karee White:

A little bit. And what would be disturbing to me is if it's perceived as a gaming kind of event. It really comes home when you have loved ones that are involved. And I don't like to see it reduced to some sort of a gaming strategy type of event, if that's been in fact what's happening, because it's really real to the families that are involved, like ours.

Liz Landers:

Her husband, Jim, worries the war's low casualty count is keeping it out of the public view.

Jim White:

I think, in a way, the more dangerous thing is the fact that we have had so little loss, right? It's been so easy that it makes you feel like you can go a little bit further than you probably should. That's the real risk.