--- title: White House Speaks Out Amid 'Trump as Superman' Meme Uproar description: "Nowhere in the Constitution does it say we can’t post banger memes," the White House said. canonical: https://time.com/7301939/trump-superman-immigrant-white-house-meme-backlash/ author: Olivia-Anne Cleary article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-07-12T14:05:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:04.509Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House Speaks Out Amid 'Trump as Superman' Meme Uproar og:description: “Nowhere in the Constitution does it say we can’t post banger memes,” the White House said. og:url: https://time.com/7301939/trump-superman-immigrant-white-house-meme-backlash/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1a33cfb51150b77/6998c83e07a30d3ae777d2a7/GettyImages-2222470829.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5726 og:image:height: 3221 og:image:alt: President Trump Speaks On Recent Supreme Court Rulings At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House Speaks Out Amid 'Trump as Superman' Meme Uproar twitter:description: “Nowhere in the Constitution does it say we can’t post banger memes,” the White House said. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1a33cfb51150b77/6998c83e07a30d3ae777d2a7/GettyImages-2222470829.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Speaks Out Amid Backlash Over Meme of Trump as Superman > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=92240372-192a-4616-a4c5-7cc62384abc8&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 'Superman' Stars on the Latest Superhero Film [Watch (HLS stream): 'Superman' Stars on the Latest Superhero Film](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Jmltbdsm.m3u8) (2:49)  _Published 2025-07-11. "Superman" star David Corenswet says audiences are going to want to see James Gunn's new film over and over again. The 31-year-old American actor plays Clark Kent in the latest take on the red-caped superhero. Rachel Brosnahan plays his love interest, Lois Lane. She says she found her character by watching older "Superman" films and reading comics, and also by talking with real-life journalists._  by [Olivia-Anne Cleary](https://time.com/author/olivia-anne-cleary/)  ## Olivia-Anne Cleary Cleary is an editor at TIME, based in the London bureau. Jul 12, 2025 2:05 PM UTC  President Donald Trump answers questions during a press conference in the briefing room at the White House on June 27, 2025, in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump answers questions during a press conference in the briefing room at the White House on June 27, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Olivia-Anne Cleary](https://time.com/author/olivia-anne-cleary/)  ## Olivia-Anne Cleary Cleary is an editor at TIME, based in the London bureau. Jul 12, 2025 2:05 PM UTC The White House has responded after drawing ire and backlash over its recent memes, one of which included a fake movie poster depicting [President Donald Trump](https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1943816803513512149) as Superman. In a post shared across its core social media accounts on Friday night, [the White House said](https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1943816803513512149): “Nowhere in the Constitution does it say we can’t post banger memes,” alongside a picture of an announcement board that read “OMG, did the White House really post this?” In response, one X user argued that such memes show “how unserious this Administration is.” The White House’s defiant stance was also shared across the official POTUS accounts on [X](https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1943816803513512149), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DL%5FHfq6RrDD/?hl=en), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122140820360723345&set=a.122114684240723345). The White House earlier on Friday posted an AI-altered image of Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California, a Democrat, after he criticized an ICE raid at a marijuana farm. The post featured a [doctored image of Gomez crying](https://www.instagram.com/p/DL-z-t1R2KH/?img%5Findex=1), labeling him “cryin’ Jimmy.” The upload was condemned by many, with one Instagram user asking: “Why is the official White House page making these kind\[s\] of comments?” Meanwhile, on Thursday night, the White House social team prompted reactions far and wide, some of the mocking variety, when it replaced actor [David Corenswet](https://time.com/7273166/david-corenswet-superman-interview/) with Trump in a meme of the poster for the new movie _Superman_. Where the original poster says “A James Gunn film” at the top, the Trump team’s alternative reads “A Trump presidency,” followed by the slogan: “Truth. Justice. The American Way.” The accompanying caption referred to “Superman Trump” as the “Symbol of hope.” The mock-up movie poster stood out amid a slew of other posts that focused on high-stakes matters such as the Trump Administration’s border patrol policies and the relief efforts for the devastating [Texas floods](https://time.com/7300310/texas-floods-national-weather-service-warnings-debate-staffing-cuts/). > [](https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1943493150644777199) The White House’s foray into movie-related memes came after _Superman_ writer and director Gunn drew ire from conservative voices after declaring that the superhero is, in fact, an immigrant. In an interview with [the _Times of_ London](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/james-gunn-interview-superman-film-2025-david-corenswet-dhb3bw3rp), Gunn said: “I mean, _Superman_ is the story of America. An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.” **Read More**: [_Trump Set to Ratchet Up His Immigration Crackdown During Next 100 Days_](https://time.com/7281034/trump-immigration-crackdown-executive-orders/) In the midst of Trump’s immigration crackdown—which has resulted in an uptick of ICE raids across the U.S., but especially in states such as Texas and California—some conservative commentators and platforms took umbrage to Gunn’s framing of Superman, who is originally from the fictional planet of Krypton, as an inspiring immigrant. Prior to the film’s release, [Ben Shapiro complained](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FoSeu8V-yCk) that “Superman is going woke,” while Kellyanne Conway, a former White House counselor who served during Trump’s first term, said on Fox News that people “don’t go to the movie theater to be lectured to” or to “have somebody throw their ideology onto us.” Actor Dean Cain, who played Superman in the hit ‘90s TV series _Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,_ also spoke out against Gunn’s assessment of the character. [Cain told TMZ](https://www.tmz.com/watch/james-gunn-dean-cain-superman-immigrant-07-09-2025/) he thought it was “a mistake by James Gunn to say it’s an immigrant thing” and shared his concerns that the comments might impact the success of the movie.  An attendee holds a mock-up superhero comic book featuring Trump on the cover during the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. Patrick T. Fallon—Getty Images But others in the political realm have been steadfast in their support of Gunn’s framing of the character. **Read More**:[_What Superman's End-Credits Scenes Mean—For the DC Universe and the Movies_](https://time.com/7301405/superman-post-credits-scenes-franchise/) “I’m a long time _Superman_ fan, and I want to be clear: The _Superman_ story is an immigration story of an outsider who tries to always do the most good,”[ said Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California](https://x.com/RobertGarcia/status/1943007401785069873). “His arch nemesis is a billionaire. You don’t get to change who he is because you don’t like his story. Comics are political.” Meanwhile California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his office have also joined the political discourse. Newsom recently took the Trump Administration to court after the [President deployed the National Guard](https://time.com/7291978/los-angeles-immigration-protests-trump-national-guard-deployed-newsom-backlash/) and Marines to quell the immigration-related protests in Los Angeles without a request from the state Governor. Newsom and his office have been outspoken against the ICE raids Trump is overseeing in L.A. and throughout the state. As such, in response to the White House’s meme of Trump as Superman, [Newsom’s office replied](https://x.com/GovPressOffice/status/1943527085257142411): “Superman was an undocumented immigrant.” ## Transcript Ultimately, what people want is they want to be moved. They want to feel things. They want to see amazing visuals on the screen. And ultimately, what I want out of a movie like that is I want to get to the end and think when the lights come up, like, just let the lights go back down. Let's start all over. I want to go on this ride again. And I think James has has done that with this film. Everything that I have heard is people saying, I can't wait to go and see it again, because the Easter eggs are great and the twists are great. But even knowing how the story ends, it's the journey that really is the valuable thing. And that's always how I felt about movies, was like the great films that I want to go back and rewatch again and again and again. It's not it's not for any reason other than I love how I feel during those two hours, and I love how I feel coming out of those two hours. James pointed me towards a number of comics to look at. I was already familiar with the Christopher Reeve Margot Kidder Superman films, but I was just looking to understand on a deeper level and to try to find something that sparked a way in for me, and that came from speaking to investigative journalists, just understanding what they did all day and what drove them to keep going. You know, I remember talking to one who told me that, of course, like, everybody wants to make an impact on the world around them with their journalism. But if that's the only thing you're doing it for, you're not going to be able to stick it out, because you spend all this time and energy writing a story sometimes, and it just doesn't reach the people you hope it does or make the difference. You hope. And the opposite can be true too. Sometimes the thing you least expect can make an impact, but that there has to be something else driving you. And I was really drawn to the, um, the competitive nature of a number of people I spoke to, the kind of desire to throw themselves into the center of the action, the vices that you know, that they engage with. Um, and yeah, it was it was a it was a really it was such a fun experience to build an iconic character that was familiar and felt familiar to me. But to find a new way in, you'd let me. Interview you as Superman? Sure. Ready? Let's do it. Cronkite. Superman. Miss Lane. I think James is intentional focus on the importance of journalism and journalistic integrity in this film, uh, is potentially more important now than it has been. And one of the joys of stepping into this has been understanding in a deeper way what you all do and the ways in which you put yourselves on the line in pursuit of the truth. 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