On the eve of a potential government shutdown, the political temperature in Washington soared—not just over budget negotiations, but also over a controversial AI-generated video posted by former President Donald Trump. The video, shared on Trump’s Truth Social account and later on X, depicted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and handlebar mustache, with mariachi music playing in the background. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer appeared beside him, his voice manipulated by artificial intelligence to deliver a crude monologue disparaging Democrats and suggesting that providing free healthcare to undocumented immigrants could win their votes.
The video, which surfaced on September 30, 2025, just hours after Trump met with congressional leaders to discuss averting a government shutdown, immediately drew sharp condemnation from Democratic lawmakers. House Minority Leader Jeffries didn’t mince words, calling the video “racist” and directly challenging Trump: “Mr. President, the next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video. When I’m back in the Oval Office, say it to my face. Say it to my face.” According to reporting from Politico, Jeffries denounced the video as “disgusting” and reaffirmed his commitment to fighting bigotry and defending healthcare protections.
Senate Minority Leader Schumer, also targeted in the video, responded on X (formerly Twitter): “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 later added, as quoted by The Hill, that Trump was “busy trolling away on the internet like a 10-year-old.”
The AI-generated video appeared to parody a real press conference held by Jeffries and Schumer outside the White House following their meeting with Trump. The manipulated audio had Schumer’s likeness say, “Look guys, there’s no way to sugarcoat it. Nobody likes Democrats anymore. We have no voters left because of all of our woke trans bullshit. Not even Black people wanna vote for us anymore, even Latinos hate us. So we need new voters. And if we give all these illegal aliens free health care, 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 shit, you know? At least for a while until they learn English and they realize they hate us too.”
Reactions from Republican leaders were mixed, with some brushing off the controversy and others sidestepping direct criticism. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, when pressed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, described the video as “said in jest” and likened Trump’s behavior to “a little boy playing with a flashlight and a dog.” Marshall further argued, “What he’s saying is, this offer from the Democrats is ridiculous. One and a half trillion dollars on top of funding that they already agreed to. What they’re asking for is completely ridiculous, it’s disingenuous.” When asked if he had any objections to the video, Marshall repeated, “I think it was said in jest.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, faced a direct confrontation from Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania. Dean, visibly animated, challenged Johnson outside the House chamber: “Not your style? It’s disgraceful. It’s bigoted. It’s racist. You should call it out,” she insisted, referencing the video. Dean pressed further: “Is it racist? You put a sombrero on a Black man who’s the leader of the House. You don’t see that as racist? We need you desperately to lead.” Johnson maintained, “It wasn’t my style,” and later, in a CNN interview, said, “The fight tonight is not about social media posts. The fight is about whether [Democrats will] keep the government open for the American people.”
According to Newsweek, Dean was unsatisfied with Johnson’s response, emphasizing the need for moral leadership: “That’s why I’m talking to you. You have a great opportunity to lead.” Dean told reporters she found the video “really racist” and “despicable,” adding, “That’s a problem, that the speaker of the House didn’t see the racism.”
The video’s content struck a nerve because it recycled a frequent Republican talking point: that Democrats are pushing for government-funded healthcare for undocumented immigrants. Trump, Johnson, and other GOP lawmakers have repeatedly accused Democrats of prioritizing health care for immigrants without legal status, especially in the context of the government shutdown negotiations. Yet, as The Hill and KFF, a non-partisan health policy research group, have clarified, only immigrants lawfully present in the U.S. are eligible for Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies and Medicaid. Unauthorized immigrants are not eligible for either, except for emergency Medicaid payments, which accounted for less than 1% of total Medicaid spending in fiscal year 2023.
The funding dispute itself centers on whether to include a permanent extension of ACA subsidies and the restoration of $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts in the spending bill. All 53 Senate Republicans voted against the Democratic-backed proposal on October 1, 2025. KFF reported that cuts to ACA subsidies and Medicaid from the tax and budget law signed in July would cause 1.4 million legally present immigrants to lose insurance coverage. Democrats argue these protections must be preserved, while Republicans insist that funding and policy should be handled separately.
As the shutdown deadline loomed, Dean further criticized Johnson for sending House members home and for what she described as “dishonest information” about the funding bill, which she said included cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, cancer research, and nutrition programs. Johnson, for his part, acknowledged the policy disagreements but insisted, “I respect her as an individual, we disagree on every policy matter.”
Beyond the policy and procedural disputes, the controversy over Trump’s AI video has thrown a spotlight on the growing influence—and risks—of artificial intelligence in political discourse. The video’s use of racist stereotypes and manipulated audio has reignited debates about respect, free speech, and the boundaries of political satire. For Jeffries, the first Black lawmaker to lead either party in Congress, the video was a stark reminder of the persistent challenges of bigotry in American politics.
With the government shutdown set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, the fallout from the video continues to ripple through Capitol Hill. Jeffries, speaking to MSNBC, summed up the sentiment among many Democrats: “It’s a disgusting video and we’re going to continue to make clear bigotry will get you nowhere. We are fighting to protect the health care of the American people in the face of an unprecedented Republican assault on all the things—Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act.”
As the nation watches the standoff unfold, one thing is clear: the battle over government funding has become inseparable from the fight over the values and rhetoric that will define the next chapter of American politics.
