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Published Mar 9, 2026, 12:53 PM EDT
Steve Downes joins of a chorus of voices speaking against the White House’s unauthorized use of pop culture in its propaganda
Image: Halo Studios/Xbox Game Studios
Last week, the White House’s X account shared an unsettling video splicing together footage and audio from Call of Duty with the real-world images of missile strikes. The next day, it posted a video montage of clips from various media, like Tropic Thunder, Braveheart, and Top Gun, spliced with more footage of missile strikes, and captioned the video “Justice the American way.” Both videos came amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Footage of Master Chief saying “Finishing this fight” from Halo 2 also appears in the video. Its inclusion has prompted Master Chief voice actor Steve Downes to call out the White House for using his voice for its “disgusting and juvenile war porn” video.
“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,” Downes said in a statement shared to X on Sunday. “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.”
This wasn’t the first time the White House used Halo or Master Chief in its propaganda. In October 2025, it tweeted out an AI-generated image of Trump dressed as Master Chief saluting a U.S. flag (with 40 stars) in response to a tweet from GameStop declaring the console wars were over now that Halo is coming to PlayStation. Shortly after, it also tweeted out an image of Master Chief driving a Warthog to encourage people to join ICE.
Downes isn’t the only one to call upon the White House to cease its unauthorized use of pop culture in its propagandist messaging. Ben Stiller asked the White House to remove the Tropic Thunder clip from the same video, while The Pokémon Company has also stood firm against the White House’s Pokémon Pokopia MAGA meme. “Our mission is to bring the world together,” the company said in a statement, “and that mission is not affiliated with any political viewpoint or agenda.”
