MAGA's Platform Called 'Ragebaiter' After Sabrina's Audio is Deleted, Then Replaced With SNL Skit

Sabrina Carpenter accused the White House of weaponising her art after an ICE video set to her song was deleted; only for the administration to quietly re-post a clip that dub-changed her Saturday Night Live promo to suggest she endorsed arrests.

The row began when the White House posted a short social clip showing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations set to a repeated lyric from Carpenter's 2024 single 'Juno'. Carpenter replied on X: 'this video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda'.

The post was taken down within days, but the administration then posted a second video on social platforms which removed the song and instead used an altered Saturday Night Live promo in which Carpenter's throwaway joke: 'I think I might need to arrest someone for being too hot', was effectively re-voiced to imply she was endorsing arrests of 'illegal' migrants.

White House Erases and Replaces the Clip

The White House's original clip used an earworm portion of 'Juno', with the line 'Have you ever tried this one?' over footage of officers restraining and handcuffing people in street raids. News outlets report that Carpenter's public rebuke and the ensuing backlash on social media, preceded the account's removal of that post a few days later.

Rather than retreating, the administration moved to a different tack: a post that spliced and overdubbed a promotional SNL sketch featuring Carpenter and cast member Marcello Hernández.

In the original SNL promo, Carpenter quips about 'arresting someone for being too hot', a recurring gag on her Short n' Sweet tour. The White House's edited version substitutes the context and audio to read as an endorsement of ICE action, with a caption reading: 'PSA: If you're a criminal illegal, you WILL be arrested & deported'.

Carpenter's reaction — and the White House's subsequent response, a blunt statement from spokeswoman Abigail Jackson that invoked the singer's album title while defending deportations — transformed what might have been a standard intellectual-property dispute into a wider political skirmish.

'Here's a Short n' Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: we won't apologise for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country,' Jackson told reporters.

Legal and Copyright Context

Lawyers and copyright analysts say the incident raises familiar, thorny questions about political actors using copyrighted music and archival media in partisan messaging. Using a recorded song in a government social video is not automatically lawful; sync rights, master-use permissions, and the narrow contours of 'fair use' must be considered.

The Copyright Alliance and Congressional Research Service note that creative works are unlikely to qualify as fair use when a recognisable hook is repurposed to promote a political agenda, especially where the owner objects and the use is commercial or political rather than critical or transformative.

That legal backdrop helps explain why artists from Bruce Springsteen to Olivia Rodrigo have publicly objected in recent years when the Trump White House or campaign accounts have appropriated music without permission. In several cases, record labels or artists have pursued takedown notices; in others, public pressure led to muted audio or deleted posts.

Whether Carpenter's camp will pursue a DMCA takedown or a broader copyright action remains unconfirmed; reporting to date indicates the artist's initial response has been public condemnation rather than immediate litigation.

Public Reaction and Political Consequences

Online reaction was swift and polarised. Supporters of Carpenter celebrated the singer for pushing back against what they called an abusive blending of culture and state power; critics of the administration accused it of deliberately 'rage-baiting', posting incendiary content to provoke viral outrage among political opponents.

Some commentators described the tactic as an escalation beyond copyright disputes into targeted political messaging that weaponises pop culture against immigrant communities.

The choice to swap a musical clip for an altered TV promo indicates an understanding of social media dynamics: recognisable audio and visual hooks amplify reach. But the manoeuvre also exposes the messiness of using entertainment content in government communications.

NBCUniversal, which produces SNL, and Carpenter's own representatives had not publicly authorised the repurposed material as of press time; the cast member featured in the original sketch, Marcello Hernández, has not issued a formal statement on the doctored clip.

At a minimum, the controversy depicts how rapidly popular culture and official communications can collide in the social media era.