Trump Posts AI-Generated Video Mocking Democratic Leaders Hours After Shutdown Talks Collapse

Key Takeaways

President Donald Trump met Monday with key congressional leaders including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and House Speaker Mike Johnson in a last-ditch attempt to avoid a government shutdown.

The meeting, held just one day before the September 30 funding deadline, ended without a deal.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Schumer called Trump the ultimate "decision maker" and said, "If he will accept some of the things we ask, which we think the American people are for on healthcare and on rescissions, he can avoid a shutdown, but there's still large differences between us."

Jeffries reacted to the meeting saying, according to DC Examiner reporter Samantha-Jo Roth on X, "Republicans control the House. Republicans control the Senate, and Donald Trump is the president."

Controversial AI video sparks outrage

Hours after the meeting, Trump shared a racist video on social media, which appears to be AI-generated, depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and a mustache and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking in a fake voice.

The video was posted on both Trump's X account and his official Truth Social account.

In the video, Schumer is depicted as arguing for undocumented immigrants to get "free healthcare" because minority voters hate Democrats and they could use the votes in the next election.

As mariachi music plays in the background of the video, the fake Schumer voice says, "There's no way to sugar coat it: Nobody likes Democrats anymore."

The fabricated audio includes profanity and promotes inflammatory claims about Democratic policies, falsely suggesting the party seeks to provide healthcare to undocumented immigrants to gain voters.

Democratic leaders respond

Shortly after Trump posted the video, Jeffries wrote on X, "Bigotry will get you nowhere. Cancel the Cuts. Lower the Cost. Save Healthcare. We are NOT backing down."

Schumer followed moments later, commenting on X, "If you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can't negotiate. You can only throw tantrums."

CNN also reached out to the White House for comment on the video.

Republican reactions mixed

CNN's Kaitlan Collins pressed Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas on the video during an interview Monday night. When Collins asked if the senator had any objections to the video, Marshall defended Trump's actions.

"I tell you, I think it's said in jest," the senator said. "I think it's the president making fun of a couple people that didn't bring a serious request to the White House."

Healthcare dispute at center of shutdown crisis

The fundamental disagreement revolves around healthcare funding rather than immigration policy.

Jeffries stressed that Democrats want to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, telling reporters: "More than 20 million Americans are on the brink of experiencing dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits which benefit working class Americans."

"Working-class Americans, their health care, that's what we're fighting to preserve, to defend and to strengthen," Jeffries said.

Republicans have pushed back against Democratic demands. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, in an interview with CNN on Monday, said: "Chuck Schumer … wants to reinstate free health care for illegal aliens paid by American taxpayers. We are not doing that. We can't do that."

However, according to The New York Times, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement: "Undocumented immigrants are not eligible to enroll in federally funded health coverage under existing law or Democrats' funding proposal — but millions of American citizens will see their health care premiums double next year if Republicans don't extend the subsidies."

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