It seems May the 4th, otherwise known as Star Wars Day ('May the 4th be with you', get it?), has just become a day of national of observance in the US on a par with July the 4th. And President Donald Trump is commemorating the occasion with an unexpected revelation.
The date used to be an excuse to use the best Star Wars fonts, to watch Disney+ premieres and to grab a Lego Star Wars deal. But this year, the official White House and POTUS social media accounts have got involved, posting an image (presumably AI-generated) of Donald Trump wielding a lightsaber.
Cringey AI images of the US president shouldn't surprise us anymore after all those terrible Trump NFT trading cards, but today's attempt to jump on Star Wars Day has a little design problem beyond the questions of taste and appropriateness. And it suggests that nobody in social media at the White House has actually watched the Star Wars films.
The image posted shows Trump looking like a cross between Obi Wan Kenobi and Conan the Barbarian. He's depicted in front of two bald eagles and US flags, while the caption reads "Happy May the 4th to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting so hard to bring Sith Lords, Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, & well known MS-13 Gang Members, back into our Galaxy. You’re not the Rebellion—you’re the Empire."
With that as the message, Star Wars fans are wondering then why Trump is depicted with a red lightsaber – the colour most often used by Sith lords like Darth Vader, Darth Maul and Darth Sidious, rather than the blue and green blades associated with the Jedi order.
Does Trump now consider himself a radical left lunatic?, some wonder. Did AI give Trump a red lightsaber because the vast amount of online data it was trained on have led it to conclude that the US president is the bad guy?
"Imagine watching Star Wars your whole life and still thinking the guy with the red lightsaber is the good guy," one person responded in the comments on Instagram. "At least they got the lightsaber color right," another person wrote. Others are suggesting that the US government has become a laughing stock on the world stage by posting such frivolous and facetious content.
Observance of May the 4th isn't limited to the White House and POTUS accounts either. Other government departments and even the US Army have made Star Wars Day posts. Again, some opted for red lightsabers.
The Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security even posted a video comparing themselves to Darth Vader and depicting gang members and human smugglers as the good guys.
The reaction to the posts shows that if you're going to try to link your brand to a trending topic or pop culture reference point, you'd better get the details right (and maybe not leave all the work to AI).
After already offending large parts of the world with a shocking AI video of a Trump-branded Gaza, the US president now faces the painful ridicule of Star Wars fans. Whatever next? Will we see the administration offend the world's Catholics by posting an image of Trump as pope to tie in with the conclave due to start at the Sistine Chapel in two days' time.... Wait, you're telling me that already happened last week?
Want to save Star Wars Day from the Empire's grasp? See our roundup of the best Star Wars posters of all time.
