Trump posts deepfake video of Jeffries, Schumer with racist tropes as shutdown looms
- - Trump posts deepfake video of Jeffries, Schumer with racist tropes as shutdown looms
Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY September 30, 2025 at 2:49 PM
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President Donald Trump posted an expletive-laden, deepfake video with racist tropes about immigrants after talks with Democrats did not end in agreement to keep the federal government open.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with Trump and Republican leaders on Sept. 29, just over 24 hours ahead of the government funding deadline.
Later that night, Trump posted an apparently AI-created video of Schumer speaking in a fake voice and Jeffries standing next to him with a sombrero, a mustache and mariachi music playing in the background.
"There's no way to sugarcoat it, nobody likes Democrats anymore. We have no voters left because of our woke, trans (expletive)," Schumer's fake voice says. "Not even Black people wanna vote for us anymore, even Latinos hate us. So we need new votes. And if we give all these illegal aliens free healthcare, we might be able to get them on our side so they can vote for us. They can't even speak English, so they won't realize we're just a bunch of woke pieces of (expletive)."
Jeffries and Schumer responded to the video by bringing it back to the fight over government funding.
"Bigotry will get you nowhere," Jeffries posted after Trump's video. "Cancel the Cuts. Lower the Cost. Save Healthcare. We are NOT backing down."
What is a government shutdown? Here's what it means and how it works
Video called racist for stereotypes about immigrants and dig at Black voters
The video is widely considered racist, including by Jeffries himself. Trump shared it on his Truth Social account and X account, where it garnered more than 22.8 million views.
The video contains several pieces of disinformation. About half of all U.S. immigrants speak English according to Pew, immigrants in the U.S. illegally can't vote, and undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federally funded coverage, like Medicaid. Some have characterized the video as satire, mocking or trolling.
"Whether or not it's satirical, it's still racist," said Peter Loge, the director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication at The George Washington University. He explained how it used Mexican stereotypes with the hat and music, falsely equated every Mexican person with undocumented immigrants, and put down the intelligence of Black and Latino voters.
"The president of the United States has a responsibility to increase trust in the democratic institutions and to bring the American people together," Loge said. "Nobody should be sharing that video. Certainly not the president of the United States who represents all of the Americans, not just a small political base that supports him."
"Anyone who’s feigning outrage over a perfect meme should instead focus on the countless Americans who will suffer as a result of the Democrat shutdown,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told USA TODAY in a statement.
Jeffries redirects to Epstein, healthcare funding fight
Jeffries and House Democrats held a press conference on Sept. 30 to highlight their efforts to fight for their healthcare demands as the threat of a government shutdown looms.
"Mr. President, the next time you have something to say about me, don't cop out to a racist and fake AI video. When I'm back in the Oval Office, say it to my face," Jeffries said on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. He went on to blame Republicans for not negotiating to fund the government.
Jeffries also took a hit back at Trump on social media shortly after the AI video went up, pointing to the ongoing controversy over Trump's relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
This is real. pic.twitter.com/MSANoEbFCP
— Hakeem Jeffries (@hakeemjeffries) September 30, 2025
"If you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can’t negotiate. You can only throw tantrums," Schumer posted on Sept. 29 when sharing Trump's AI video.
Schumer also called Trump a 10-year-old trolling the internet in remarks on the Senate floor, according The Hill.
US heads for government shutdown Oct. 1
Funding for the government expires at midnight on Sept. 30 and a breakthrough for an agreement looks unlikely.
"There was a frank and direct discussion with the president of the United States and Republican leaders," Jeffries said after meeting with the president on Sept. 29, but added, "significant and meaningful differences remain."
Republicans want a stopgap solution that would extend funding through Nov. 21, and Democrats want changes to healthcare access and subsidies as part of the deal. Both sides are trying to blame a potential shutdown on each other.
Without funding, staffing at many federal agencies will be significantly reduced and federal services (except those considered "essential") will be halted.
(This story has been with additional information.)
Contributing: Zachary Schermele, Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump posts 'racist' video of Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer on shutdown
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