Iran War in the Age of Memes and Online Battlefields
Psychologists say the White House’s “meme-ization” of war on social media can help soften the impact of war.
President Donald Trump’s escalation of rhetoric ahead of a self-imposed deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz drew condemnation from some Republican lawmakers ahead of the ceasefire announcement on April 7.
In a post on Easter Truth Social, President Trump threatened that the United States would attack civilian infrastructure if Iran did not open up critical corridors for oil and petrochemical shipments that Iran had closed in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks.
The president began by saying in his post that April 7th is “Power Plant Day and Bridge Day, bringing it all together,” with a deadline of 8 p.m. ET and adding, “Open the (expletive) Channel you crazy bastards, or you’ll live in hell – just watch! Praise be to Allah.” In a post on the morning of April 7, President Trump said, “The entire civilization will perish tonight.”
However, about 90 minutes before the deadline, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he would “stop bombing and attacking Iran for two weeks.”
International law experts and aid groups say the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure such as power plants and bridges could constitute a war crime. Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard said in a statement that the April 7 post “conceives a potential threat of genocide” and “brazenly cuts into the core provisions of international humanitarian law, with potentially devastating consequences for more than 90 million people.”
Criticism from within President Trump’s own party continued to divide the MAGA movement over the war. Conservative critics say the war contradicts the anti-interventionist “America First” promise that returned President Trump to the White House.
Polls show that the Iran war is widely unpopular, but many Republicans support President Trump’s way of handling the conflict. A CNN poll released last week found that only 33% of Americans approve of President Trump’s handling of Iran, compared to 73% of Republicans.
Republicans who oppose the possibility of an escalation of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran include:
marjorie taylor green
Former MAGA figure and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said Trump’s Easter post “doesn’t make America great again and this is evil.”
In response to the April 7 Truth social post, Greene called for invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
tucker carlson
Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson said on the April 6 episode of “The Tucker Carlson Show” that President Trump’s Easter threat against Iranian civilian infrastructure was a “war crime” and a “moral crime.”
Carlson said the destruction of the power plant would lead to the deaths of civilians: “Infants in incubators will die, people in hospitals will die,” he said. He also took issue with President Trump’s use of language, accusing him of “tweeting the F-word on Easter morning” and “ridiculing Iran’s religion.”
The former Fox News host has criticized the Iran war from the beginning, with President Trump telling the New York Post in an April 7 interview that “Tucker has a low IQ and has no idea what’s going on.”
the. ron johnson
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a staunch Trump ally, expressed concern about Iranian attacks on bridges and power plants.
“I hope and pray…this is a real uproar,” Johnson said on April 6 on the John Solomon Report podcast. “I don’t want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure. I don’t want to see that.”
the. lisa markowski
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said in an April 7 X post that President Trump’s “civilization dies tonight” post is “an affront to the ideals our country has sought to protect and promote.”
“All involved, especially the president and Iranian leaders, must quell the unprecedented saber insurrection before it is too late,” Murkowski wrote.
Congressman Nathaniel Moran
“I do not support the destruction of ‘entire civilizations,'” Texas Congressman Nathaniel Moran said in an April 7 post on X. “I have supported the President’s decisions on the Iran conflict because they were consistent with the authorities and the ultimate goal of protecting national security interests.”
Rep. Kevin Kiley
California Congressman Kevin Kiley said in an April 7 post on the X Show that “America will not destroy civilization.”
What will happen next in Iran?
President Trump’s ceasefire announcement capped a whirlwind day dominated by his threat to destroy all bridges and power plants in Iran unless Iran reopens the strait. The incident rattled world leaders, roiled global financial and energy markets, and drew widespread condemnation, including from United Nations leaders and Pope Leo.
Pakistan has been acting as an intermediary between the US and Iran for several weeks. In an April 7 statement announcing the ceasefire, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran acted “in response to a brotherly request” from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, told USA TODAY in a written statement that the ceasefire was the result of “coordinated leadership” and came from “persistent and patient diplomacy.” More diplomacy was needed, he said.
Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security described the deal as a victory over the United States and claimed that President Trump had accepted Iran’s terms to end hostilities.
“The truth is that President Trump and our powerful military have gotten Iran to agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and negotiations will continue,” White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said in a statement to USA TODAY.
According to Al Jazeera, Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security said in a statement that negotiations will begin on April 10, but that Iran does not trust the United States.
The newspaper reported that the council said the ceasefire “does not mean the end of the war” and that the country would accept an end to the war once the details of the plan were “finalized in negotiations”.
Contributed by: Reuters
