Several Latino advocacy groups called out President Trump over his use of artificial intelligence and memes to target Democratic Congressional leaders, including depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wearing a Mexican-style sombrero.
Hispanic Federation, the Latino Victory Foundation, League of United American Citizens, Mi Familia Vota, UnidosUs and Voto Latino released a joint statement on Wednesday condemning the memes and videos as “dangerous” and “reprehensible.”
“Hours before a looming shutdown, Trump shared an AI-generated racist video,” the statement, shared on Instagram, reads.
“The video portrayed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black person to hold this position, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the first Jewish person to hold this position, using hateful stereotypes and demeaned Latinos, the nation’s second-largest ethnic group,” the online statement continues.
The groups added, “This rhetoric isn’t careless; it’s dangerous.”
Advocates called on the White House to unite people and “not vilify communities that power our economy, culture and democracy,” while calling the memes and videos “dangerous tropes… beneath the office of the presidency.”
“The troubling use of AI to amplify hateful stereotypes is not only reckless, but it serves as an act of disinformation designed to further stigmatize Latinos when the tensions facing the community driven by policy and rhetoric are at an all-time high,” they wrote.
The criticism comes days after Trump shared an AI-generated video of Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) with Jeffries sporting the sombrero and a handlebar mustache while Latin-style music plays in the background. Schumer’s comments were also dubbed with audio lamenting his own party beginning with, “Look guys, there’s no way to sugar coat it, nobody likes Democrats anymore.”
Jeffries pushed back on the video, slamming the president and Republicans as “racist.” Schumer also blasted Trump over the post, saying he is “busy trolling away on the internet like 10-year-old” while Washington is dealing with the shutdown.
Vice President Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) came to Trump’s defense, suggesting the posts were made in jest.
“Oh, I think it’s funny,” Vance told reporters on Wednesday. “The president’s joking, and we’re having a good time.”
He added, “You can negotiate in good faith while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats’ positions.”
Johnson played it off as “games” and just “sideshows.”
“People are getting caught up in — in battles over social media memes,” Johnson said at a press conference early Thursday. “This is not a game. We’ve got to keep the government open for the people. I don’t know why this is so complicated.”
“And to my friend Hakeem, who I was asked about: Man, just ignore it,” the Speaker added.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Tuesday posted a video inspired by the president’s sombrero video, adding the hat and mustache motifs to his 44 Democratic colleagues. In the background, a parody version of “Macarena” plays with a Trump-like voice.
