President Donald Trump on Tuesday night doubled down on posting bonkers, manipulated videos online with another AI-generated clip mocking Democratic lawmakers.
On Monday, as a government shutdown that had now begun loomed, Trump circulated an altered video featuring House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), whom he’d just met with at the White House to discuss federal funding.
It depicted Jeffries wearing a sombrero and mustache while Schumer railed against Democrats as “woke pieces of shit.”
Less than 24 hours later, Trump posted a second doctored video.
It began with Jeffries condemning Trump’s initial post as “disgusting” during an interview with MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell. It then morphed into a scene of Jeffries again wearing a sombrero and mustache, accompanied by a mariachi band with Trump’s face superimposed on each musician.
At a House Democratic press conference on Tuesday, Jeffries addressed the first post with a direct message for Trump: “Mr. President, the next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video. Say it to my face.”
Trump supporters predictably loved the trolling posts, but critics suggested, once again, that it was beneath the office of the presidency.