The White House used the voiceover of a British airline advert to seemingly mock a group of migrants being deported in a tweet on X.
Handcuffed undocumented people are seen being escorted by blurred-out Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials onto a GlobalX flight – an airline provider used by ICE.
The shocking post is captioned: “When ICE books you a one-way Jet2 holiday to deportation. Nothing beats it!”
Social media users were quick to express their outrage at the post, including one user who tagged Jet2 and asked, “y’all ok with this?”
While another wrote, “Disgusting.” One user sarcastically commented on the video saying, “Normal, sane, government stuff.”
“Further proof that the world ended and we’re just living in a simulation. The ACTUAL White House account hopping on the Jet2 trend to poke fun at deportees is mind blowing,” wrote another user.
“The White House make me sick using the Jet2 sound for an ICE deportation video. How can any decent human being support this?” wrote another person.
President Donald Trump recently signed a law setting aside $170 billion on border and immigration enforcement, including $45 billion for detention, even as the number of illegal border crossings has plunged. ICE will see its funding grow by $76.5 billion over five years, nearly 10 times its current annual budget.
Trump has vowed to deport millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S.
In the video, the viral TikTok audio of Jess Glynn’s 2015 single, “Hold My Hand,” is followed by a voice actress, Zoe Lister’s soundbite, “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday.
Despite a seemingly uplifting beat, the Jet2 TikTok audio has spiralled in popularity as a sarcastic dub for shocking and disastrous moments, including a person being knocked down by a huge splash and an elephant grabbing a tourist’s face.
The most-liked video to use the sound, which saw over 37 million likes, shows someone opening an expansive curtain in what looks to be a hotel room, only to open up a surprisingly small and disappointing window.
In some cases, the audio has been used over distressing incidents such as floods and dangerous sporting failures, but posts mostly include unexpected holiday failures.
In recent days, several celebrities have tried their hand at the popular meme video, including actor Jeff Goldblum, who posted his own attempt Tuesday – his video aggregated 1.5 million views.
Glynn and Lister have also both capitalized on the success, posting TikToks of themselves voicing the clip and appearing on the London-based radio station Capital FM, as their voices now feature in tens of thousands of online videos and memes.
The Jet2 clip first aired in 2022, but didn’t rise to become a social media phenomenon until this summer and has become a Gen-Z sensation.
In a press release in December 2022, Jet2 said it would launch a string of commercials using Glynne’s song, which they called “an upbeat and recognisable backdrop” to its adverts on holiday packages.
Now, it appears the White House has decided to jump on the trend.
Since President Trump took office, the White House has adopted an alternative PR style, posting flurries of internet memes on X about human rights, along with AI graphics.
The president himself has also posted several controversial images and clips. Two of his most controversial posts included an AI-generated image of himself in papal regalia, just 11 days after Pope Francis’ death, and an unrealistic vision of Gaza as a vacation resort in a 35-second AI-generated clip.
The Independent contacted Jet2, Glynn, and Lister for comment.
