In what is becoming a growing trend for the White House social media account, the Trump administration has once again used video game footage to promote US military strikes, following a post last week featuring clips from the popular franchise Call of Duty.
Earlier this week, it was criticised for posting a “bizarre” and “unserious” video in which legendary bowler Peter Weber is seen bowling, before cutting to a weird representation of the bowling pins as “Iranian regime officials”.
But now, the White House has shared footage of strikes alongside clips from the classic video game Wii Sports.
Yes, really.
Opening with the Wii Menu preview, but with the Wii Sports logo text rebranded as ‘Operation Epic Fury’ (the name for the US’s military action in Iran), the video goes on to show Miis taking shots in sports such as golf, archery, baseball and boxing, with text overlays and voiceovers celebrating a hole-in-one and a baseball going ‘out of the park’.
It also featured bowling, displaying the text “strike” over drone footage.
Democratic senator Tammy Duckworth was among those who criticised the video, writing on X/Twitter that “war is not a f***ing video game”:
A similar sentiment was expressed by podcaster Ed Krassenstein:
Lawyer Peter Stefanovic branded it “shameful, disgraceful and utterly horrific”:
One account said it was the “most dystopian thing I’ve ever seen”:
Another called the video “really gross”:
And one X/Twitter user looked to bring the conversation back to the Epstein files:
Nintendo has been approached by indy100 for comment.
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