The Department of Homeland Security’s official X account posted a fawning response to a white nationalist Nazi-sympathizer—fueling outrage over the agency’s increasingly extreme online propaganda drive.
The exchange unfolded under a post on X by DHS, which have been under the spotlight for their increasing use of far-right iconography, which said ‘SEND THEM BACK,’ with a caption that read: “You have a duty, American.”
In response, Hermes—an unnamed American online influencer who routinely peddles white-nationalist, anti-Semitic, and deeply homophobic content, and whose feed has included a photo of an Adolf Hitler swastika ring—wrote: “I like the propaganda and all but let’s actually start rounding them up.”
The DHS account answered: “Working on it!”
Hermes has a YouTube channel, in which he tours the world asking questions such as “Why are criminals always black,” “Should Blacks use self-checkout,” and “Can we have white pride?”
He also runs an online merch store which features T-shirts with messages such “I hope I don’t get stabbed for being white today,” and others with homophobic and anti-Semitic tropes.
The public blowback was swift. “Why is [an] official government account engaging with an actual Nazi?” wrote @AmericanCuler. “Why tf is the gov interacting with Nazis bro,” said @RiceuLol. “You just replied to an actual Nazi,” posted @truthlafayette.
The episode comes amid a months-long storm over the social-media output of the DHS under Secretary Kristi Noem, which researchers and watchdogs say has borrowed from white-nationalist aesthetics and slang, as the department ramps up its immigration efforts.
In August, the department was criticized for posting “Which way, American man?”—a phrase linked by multiple outlets to William Gayley Simpson’s white-supremacist tract Which Way, Western Man?
Analysts have also noted DHS posts that appear to nod at extremist numerology and iconography whose language and images appear to come directly from neo-Nazi and Christian nationalist sources.
On October 15, DHS’ X account posted a one-word tweet that read, “Remigrate,” and linked to a government page promoting voluntary self-deportation. Remigration is a far-right term associated with mass expulsions.
Up to now, DHS’ assistant secretary for public affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, who has ultimate control over the department’s social media output, has brushed off criticism over such posts. When pressed about sourcing on the “Which way” message, she told Newsweek: “Where are we quoting a white supremacist? ”
She told the Daily Beast of the “remigration” post: “Is the English language too difficult for you?” and posted a dictionary entry defining “remigrate,” as “to migrate again; migrate back; return.”
The Daily Beast has contacted DHS and Hermes for comment.
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