United States President Donald Trump's reelection campaign is taking a cue from Star Wars by calling itself the Death Star.Brad Parscale, Trump's 2020 presidential campaign manager, tweeted, "For nearly three years we have been building a juggernaut campaign (Death Star). It is firing on all cylinders. Data, Digital, TV, Political, Surrogates, Coalitions, etc. In a few days we start pressing FIRE for the first time." this was accompanied by a GIF of the Death Star II from Return of the Jedi firing a blast at the Rebel fleet during the Battle of Endor.
One hour later, Parscale clarified that it wasn't him who adopted the Star Wars moniker but rather the media. "I didn’t give our campaign the name, Death Star, the media did," he wrote. "However, I am happy to use the analogy. The fact is, we haven’t used it yet. Laugh all you want, we will take the win!"
Shortly after that, Newsweek and Independent reporter Andrew Feinberg responded to Parscale by sharing an excerpt from an Atlantic article on the reelection campaign, which described the new technology-heavy headquarters and noted, "One Republican strategist referred to it, admiringly, as 'the Death Star.'"
The Death Star, of course, was the moon-sized, planet-destroying battle station the Galactic Empire used to install fear throughout the galaxy and enforce its will. It was destroyed by the Rebellion in A New Hope, only to be replaced by a much larger version by the time of Return of the Jedi. However, that too was destroyed, though its wreckage resurfaced in The Rise of Skywalker.