Vice President JD Vance addressed Democrat outrage over President Donald Trump sharing a "sombrero meme" depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries when he attended the White House press briefing Oct. 1, 2025. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Vance joined the White House press briefing Wednesday to address the government shutdown that took effect earlier that morning after Democrat and Republican lawmakers failed to reach a funding bill agreement. The administration has pinned blame on Democrats for the shutdown, arguing members of the party are trying to push through a measure that would provide healthcare to illegal immigrants, which Democratic lawmakers have denied.
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Vance's response follows Trump posting a meme video Monday to Truth Social that depicted Jeffries wearing a mustache and a sombrero while mariachi music played in the background. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also was depicted in the video, with an AI-generated voice stating "nobody likes Democrats anymore" due to "our woke, trans" agenda.
The video included profanities and mocked Democrats as trying to appeal to illegal immigrants as prospective new voters.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
"And I saw one of the major TV stations put the meme up and then say, this is AI generated. And he had like the curly animated mustache, too. … Do you really not realize the American people recognize that he did not actually come to the White House wearing a sombrero and a black, curly animation mustache, like, give the country a little bit of credit," he continued.
When asked about another AI video Trump shared and then deleted on Truth Social in September — which depicted futuristic-looking "med beds" that can cure illnesses — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump enjoys sharing memes online.
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"He likes to share memes. He likes to share videos, he likes to repost things that he sees other people post on social media as well. And I think it's quite refreshing that we have a president who is so open and honest directly himself," she said.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jd-vance-responds-hakeem-jeffries-claim-sombrero-meme-racist