Yes, the White House has just inadvertently called Donald Trump a Sith in its own surreal celebration of Star Wars Day. Star Wars has always been political; what’s more, there’s always been a political dimension to Star Wars Day, the franchise’s annual celebration. “May the Fourth be with you” was first invoked by British newspapers when Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher won a General Election on that day in 1979.
The White House has just taken this one step further, though, issuing a tweet in honor of Star Wars Day that seems to have been trying to present Donald Trump as a Jedi hero. There’s just one problem; the AI-generated image features a red lightsaber blade, the color of Sith and dark Jedi. Far from calling Trump a Jedi, the White House has just called him a Sith.
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The AI-generated image shows a musclebound, action-hero version of Donald Trump with American flags and American eagles behind it. The message attempts to present “Radical Left Lunatics” as the real-world Empire. Unfortunately for the White House, the image’s effectiveness is undermined by that fateful lightsaber blade.
Donald Trump’s Star Wars Day Message Is A Strange One
Historically, it’s something of a stretch to ᴀssociateStar Warswith American nationalism.George Lucas based Star Wars on the Vietnam War; that’s why the rebellion is a scrappy guerrilla movement fighting against a militarized, technologically-advanced Empire. This historical context alone makes the White House’s latest pro-Trump image rather awkward.
The red lightsaber is a fatal problem in the messaging, though. There are many different colors of lightsaber in Star Wars, but red lightsabers are created by a process called “bleeding.” A dark sider deliberately pours all their emotions – notably their hatred, their rage, and their bitterness – into a kyber crystal, aligning it to the dark side. The red lightsaber is only used by Sith and dark side adherents.
Was The White House’s Tweet Intentional?
At first glance, this does appear to be an accident. But it is worth noting that the White House has recently taken to sharing controversial AI-generated images, seemingly simply to stir up conversation online; that was almost certainly the case with a recent tweet presenting Donald Trump as the next Pope. This strange Star Wars Day message may just be another attempt to do the same.
Source: The White House