PBS NewsHour host Geoff Bennett comments on The White House’s use of social media to share videos influenced by “Grand Theft Auto” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” to tout U.S. strikes in Iran.

GEOFF BENNETT, PBS NEWSHOUR: And, David, one unusual feature of this conflict has been the White House’s messaging online. They have been posting these meme-style videos, these pop culture montages celebrating the U.S. strikes. There are some of them are playing out right now on the screen. What’s your assessment of this? I mean, does this reflect modern political communication or is something here more troubling about how this war is being framed to the public by the White House? DAVID BROOKS, THE ATLANTIC: You know, the White House has pastors come in. They have prayer breakfasts they go to. They talk a lot about Christianity and upholding Christian values. At the core of Christianity is a belief in the dignity of each person, that each human being is made in the image of God. And that’s true of all humans, not just the ones you happen to like. And what’s happening here, in Lebanon and in Iran is death, is human death. And I don’t care who’s dying, whether it’s good guys or bad guys, innocents or supposed guilties. It’s death. And the people who fought World War II, who led our conflict in World War II, whether it was Franklin Roosevelt down to George Marshall to Omar Bradley, they understood the seriousness of this, that killing human beings is not a video game. It’s not pixels on a screen. And whatever you think of the war — and I’m probably a little more hopeful than most — the way this is being described is almost barbaric. There’s a great tradition of just war theory. Sometimes, wars are just, but they’re never good. They’re never anything but horrific. And to treat them otherwise is to insult the American people and to really be unnerving. It should be unnerving to everybody to see this level of triviality.

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