America's Department of Homeland Security, overseeing immigration control and anti-terrorism among other things your uncle won't shut up about, has taken a curiously Gen-Z approach to social media in Trump's second wave. Among the usual press conference clippings and scaremongering comes one word that somehow defines US politics today: memes.
"Protect the West", "send them back", "defend the homeland" - usual slop you expect from some edgy 14-year-old, now meme-ified and proudly presented on the Twitter page of a federal department. With HALO once again on the lips of millions, it was only a matter of time before Republicans pounced.
Clearly drawing parallels between migrants and The Flood - a parasitic zombie-like enemy
In a post only describable as racist, dehumanising bile, the DHS encouraged followers to "destroy The Flood", backdropped by imagery from HALO's original 2001 release of Combat Evolved. The tweet advertised jobs at ICE, the department tasked with detaining those suspected of being 'illegals', clearly drawing parallels between migrants and The Flood - a parasitic zombie-like enemy from the original three HALO instalments.
Even by the lofty standards of the American right, comparing people - living, breathing people - to a monstrous infection you spend your time killing and burning in HALO marks a new descent into flatly exterminationist rhetoric employed by Trump's cabal against those they hate.
Microsoft has remained quiet as its IP is tainted to push loosely-disguised racism
In an ironic reflection of 2401 Penitent Tangent, a HALO character whose silence and neglect have dire consequences for the game's universe, Microsoft has remained quiet as its IP is tainted to push loosely-disguised racism. Telling PC Gamer they had "nothing to share on this matter", the tech giant stands idly by.
Contrasting Microsoft's cowardice, some original developers are standing defiant as their art is corrupted. HALO 2 design lead Jaime Griesemer called the post 'despicable', while the franchise's co-creator Marcus Lehto told GameFile that "It really makes me sick seeing Halo co-opted like this".
If there's one message taught by HALO, but most importantly by history, it's to beware those who would deny others the right to exist based on who they are. Across each instalment in the game's roster, we fight a genocidal campaign by the alien "Covenant" as they aim to wipe humanity from the galaxy. The Covenant consider humans beneath them, they turn human planets to glass from orbital spaceships. Republicans in the US twist HALO as they increasingly adopt a Covenant-esque mindset to those seeking better lives, but you have to wonder: do they not see themselves?