If you’ve been on social media this summer, those five words have been almost inescapable. Originally part of a British budget airline ad, featuring Jess Glynne singing a snippet of her hit “Hold My Hand,” the soundbite has taken on a viral life of its own.
On TikTok alone, the sound has been utilized in over 2.1 million videos as people use it to share everything from bad flight experiences to embarrassing vacation blunders.
On TikTok alone, the sound has been used in over 2.1 million videos, scoring everything from bad flight experiences to cringe-worthy vacation blunders.
The Trump administration jumped into the Jet2 Holiday meme-a-palooza in its own way. On July 29, the official White House X account posted a video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees in restraints, set to the ad’s soundtrack.
The caption read: “When ICE books you a one-way Jet2 holiday to deportation. ✈️🎶 Nothing beats it!”
While the video earned more than 100,000 likes from supporters, Glynne was not among them. In an Instagram story, the queer singer posted a scathing rebuke.
“This post honestly makes me sick,” she wrote. “My music is about love, unity, and spreading positivity – never about division or hate.”
Glynne isn’t the first musician to slam Trump for using their music without permission.
In August 2024, Swedish pop icons ABBA demanded he stop using their music after he played “Money, Money, Money,” “The Winner Takes It All,” and “Dancing Queen,” along with footage of the group, at a Minnesota campaign stop.
That same month, Trump shared fake AI images suggesting Taylor Swift and her fans — Swifties — supported his presidential bid. One Truth Social post showed the pop star in an Uncle Sam costume with the words “Taylor Wants You to Vote for Donald Trump” across the image. His caption was a simple: “I accept!”
Swift endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris the next month and addressed Trump’s AI stunt. In her Instagram post, she wrote, “Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation.”
As Trump continues his well-documented embrace of memes and AI, more celebrities like Glynne are likely to get caught in the fray.
"Well, darlings... The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed," wrote former U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) on X Thursday evening. "From the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable news, what a ride it's been! Was it messy? Always. Glamorous? Occasionally. Honest? I tried... most days."
Hours later, the openly gay ex-congressman -- ever the drama queen to the end -- reported to federal prison to begin serving a seven-year sentence for fraud and identity theft.
Santos was sentenced in April to 87 months in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was ordered to pay $374,000 in restitution and forfeit more than $205,000 he earned through fraud.
Andry José Hernández Romero, deported in Trump’s immigration crackdown, was freed from El Salvador’s CECOT prison in a prisoner swap but still faces danger.
Gay asylum seeker Andry José Hernández Romero, a makeup artist and costume designer deported to El Salvador’s notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) maximum-security prison, was released on July 18 as part of a prisoner swap, NBC News reported.
The swap was brokered by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, who agreed to free more than 200 Venezuelans from CECOT in exchange for Venezuela releasing 10 American political prisoners.
Most released detainees had been deported from the U.S. after Trump invoked the rarely used Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to justify removing hundreds of undocumented immigrants, alleging ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which constituted an "invading force" whose members were committing serious crimes.
The U.S. Senate parliamentarian blocked several provisions in President Donald Trump's proposed tax and budget bill, including a transgender health care ban that would have prohibited federal funds from covering gender-affirming care.
The provision seeks to block transgender people of all ages -- including adults -- from accessing transition-related care by banning Medicaid, ACA marketplace plans, and the Children's Health Insurance Program from covering the cost.
But Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who is tasked offering nonpartisan advice to federal lawmakers on Senate rules, declared that the proposed transgender health care ban violates the Byrd Rule, which requires reconciliation bills -- those cobbled together to resolve differences between House and Senate versions -- to only contain provisions that impact the budget or spending, and not any "extraneous" matters.
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