‘DISGUSTING!’ Trump DHS Sparks Fury With Meme Promising to Deny ‘Globalists’ Citizenship
Screenshot via DHS on X
The Department of Homeland Security sparked controversy this week with a post that raised eyebrows, stirred confusion, and led to accusations of dogwhistling to the far-right.
The official DHS account posted an image on Wednesday of an AI-generated man wearing a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services hat and wrote:
“Communist?” DENIED. “Terrorist?” DENIED. “Globalist?” DENIED.
The post quickly gained traction and drew responses using the “Pepe the Frog” meme, which is associated with the far-right and white nationalism. “Are you TRYING to recruit me Homeland Security Account? Because you have my attention,” wrote one user who included the meme. The DHS account replied back, “You know you want to!”
Other reactions to the post ranged from commentators questioning its exact meaning to far-right researchers calling it a “neo-Nazi meme.” Foreign policy guru Ian Bremmer shared the meme and wrote, “unclear what globalist means in this context. @grok, who is @dhsgov saying will not be allowed into the United States?”
X’s AI bot Grok replied to Bremmer:
The DHS post explicitly states that communists, terrorists, and globalists will be denied entry. U.S. immigration law (INA) already bars those affiliated with communist or totalitarian parties and terrorists. “Globalist” isn’t a legal category but typically describes supporters of international integration; in political rhetoric, it’s sometimes used critically to denote elites or in conspiracy theories.
Independent journalist Will Stancil shared the DHS post and wrote, “This is the official account of the US Dept. of Homeland Security, posting a neo-Nazi meme about denying ‘globalists’ entry to the US. This is a smirkingly antisemitic post about Jews, and everyone involved in its creation knows that, as well as the intended audience.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) blasted DHS for responding to X users identifying with “Pepe the Frog.” Newsom’s office wrote, “The federal government is promoting far-right white supremacist memes online. DISGUSTING!”
Below are some additional replies to the DHS post:
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