In a chilling development commingling the Trump administration’s signature blend of incompetence and provocation, as well as the news media’s oscillations between terror and outright fabrication, the Drudge Report is currently insinuating that the Iranian government has gained control of Jar Jar Binks. It is unclear why, several hours after this was pointed out, the site is still running with the image on its main page. Connected to a story detailing Iran’s latest missile test and Trump’s tweeted threats in retaliation, the image shows a dozen or so missiles soaring in different directions, plumes of brown smoke billowing in their wake, and also the face of Jar Jar Binks, the adorable Gungan sidekick that palled around with Anakin, Baby Threepio, Purple Lightsaber Guy, Natalie Portman, and the rest of the gang from George Lucas’ prequel trilogy.


On Twitter, people have been making fun of the site for hours.



The image itself appears to be a massive fake with a rich backstory. In 2008, Iran released an image of four missiles blasting into the air, which people quickly noticed had been photoshopped to contain extra missiles. Afterward, Iran’s attempts at misinformation (what we would today call “alternative facts”) were parodied online with a bulbously exaggerated photo featuring many more missiles blasting all over the place and also the smiling face of Jar Jar Binks, ruiner of worlds.


All of which means that either the Drudge Report is in on the joke and essentially making fun of themselves, or they are actually afraid of Iran unleashing Jar Jar Binks in the upcoming Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. That would be pretty fucked up of them, to be honest.