The White House has released a 20-second advertisement featuring actor Jon Hamm, who has publicly endorsed Democratic candidates, without his consent. The video, posted on Saturday evening, was captioned 'ALL WE NEEDED WAS A NEW PRESIDENT' and has been viewed over one million times on X as of Sunday morning.
The ad begins with an apparent AI-generated image of President Donald Trump smiling in a crowd, with the caption 'When someone says America is the hottest country anywhere in the world.' As Trump turns his head, his face morphs into Hamm's from a scene in Apple TV+'s Your Friends and Neighbors, where the actor dances euphorically in a club to Kato's 'Turn the Lights Off'. The video ends with an outline of the White House and a US flag, reading 'The White House. Donald J. Trump.'
The release came one day after the Justice Department missed the deadline to release the full Epstein Files. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche admitted the DOJ failed to meet the deadline but promised further releases in coming weeks. Social media users accused the White House of using the ad as a 'distraction' from the Epstein Files, with comments demanding full transparency and one user writing, 'Yeah we still need a new President'.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has used celebrity content without permission. Earlier this month, the White House used a snippet of Sabrina Carpenter's song 'Juno' in a deportation ad, which she called 'evil and disgusting', leading to its removal. Similarly, the Department of Homeland Security faced backlash from Olivia Rodrigo over using her song 'All-American B****' in a deportation promotion, which she criticised as 'racist, hateful propaganda'.
