Vice President JD Vance dismissed questions over whether President Donald Trump’s sharing an offensive, AI-generated video mocking Democratic leaders was racist and contrary to his contention that the White House was ready to negotiate in good faith to end a government shutdown, arguing the president “was joking” and having “a little bit of fun.”
“I think it’s funny,” Vance told reporters during Wednesday’s White House briefing. “You can negotiate in good faith, while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats’ positions, and even, you know, poking some fun at the absurdity of the Democrats themselves.”
The post included a video depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is Black, with a fake mustache and wearing a sombrero. It also fabricated the voice of Senator Chuck Schumer at a news conference on Monday afternoon and falsely accused Democrats of trying to give free health care to undocumented immigrants to gain their support.
“I mean, I’ll tell Hakeem Jeffries right now, I make this solemn promise to you that if you help us reopen the government, the Sombrero memes will stop. And I’ve talked to the President of the United States about that,” Vance said.
When pressed whether Trump’s post was racist, as Jeffries characterized it, Vance responded, “I honestly don’t even know what that means.”
“Like, is he a Mexican American that is offended by having a sombrero meme? 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,” Vance said.
“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. We’re all trying to do a very important job for the American people. The President United States likes to have a little bit of fun when he’s doing it. And I think that’s okay,” he added.