Podcaster and comedian Theo Von urged the Department of Homeland Security to take down a viral video clip of him saying, “Heard you got deported, dude, bye!”
Von, 45, whose “This Past Weekend” podcast is influential within the "manosphere" and popular with young men, shared the DHS video to his more than 1.6 million X followers Tuesday.
The video includes what appears to be video of immigration authorities making an arrest and parts of President Donald Trump's address to the United Nations this week.
Von slammed DHS' use of his snippet on X, writing: “Yooo DHS i didnt approve to be used in this.”
"I know you know my address so send a check,” Von added. “And please take this down and please keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos," he said. "When it comes to immigration my thoughts and heart are a lot more nuanced than this video allows. Bye!"
Shortly after an original version of this article was published, DHS took down the video.
Von has had a friendly history with leading figures in the Trump administration, including the president.
Trump appeared on Von’s podcast during the height of the presidential campaign in August, which he said was at the encouragement of his youngest son, Barron.
In May, the White House took Von on Trump’s first official foreign trip to speak at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, before Trump addressed the troops. And in June, Vice President JD Vance appeared on Von’s podcast for nearly an hour and a half.
Although immigration is one of a handful of topics credited for Trump's election, support for his handling of the issue has declined in recent months.
The Trump administration has also been criticized for sharing similar videos, including one generated by artificial intelligence showing a vision of Gaza that featured a shirtless Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sunbathing.
On Monday, the Department of Homeland security posted a video on X showing immigration raids dubbed with the Pokémon television series' theme song "Gotta Catch ’Em All."
Pokémon Co. International said in a statement it was aware of the "video posted by the Department of Homeland Security that includes imagery and language associated with our brand."
"Our company was not involved in the creation or distribution of this content, and permission was not granted for the use of our intellectual property," it said.
Asked whether it would take legal action regarding the video, the company said: "We don’t have anything to share at this time."
