Overview

• On July 29, DHS responded to Washington Post criticism by tweeting “Get used to it” alongside Edward Percy Morgan’s painting “The Birth of Old Glory,” the latest in a series of contested heritage-themed posts this month.
• Artists and rights holders, including the Kinkade Family Foundation and painter Morgan Weistling, have issued formal cease-and-desist letters demanding removal of their works from DHS’s official X account.
• DHS has refused to remove any of the unauthorized paintings it shared, maintaining that the posts celebrate American history and heritage.
• Historians and scholars have criticized the agency’s use of Eurocentric and nostalgia-laden imagery for echoing white supremacist dog whistles and propaganda techniques.
• Critics note that the heritage-themed art posts sit alongside ICE deportation praise and xenophobic memes, underscoring a strategic blend of nostalgia and enforcement messaging.