(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) President Donald Trump turned to mockery on Monday, ridiculing Democratic demands ahead of the government shutdown on Tuesday evening.
He posted an AI-altered video on Truth Social of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and a mustache — a likely jab at Jeffries’s push to exploit the government shutdown to expand Obamacare subsidies, which Trump framed as benefiting illegal immigrants.
In the clip, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stands beside Jeffries while a voiceover quips, “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.”
Democrats and legacy media attacked the post as racist, even though neither Jeffries nor Schumer is of Hispanic heritage.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2025
Trump’s quip appeared to reference illegal immigrants who use emergency rooms for care, costs that Trump says are later reimbursed by the federal government.
Among the Democrats attacking Trump was Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, who said the video gave the impression that Trump “looks like a little 6-year-old having a temper tantrum.”
A clip of Fernández addressing reporters outside the U.S. Capitol went viral. She appeared near tears and said, “You post something that draws a sombrero and a mustache on the leader.”
Fernández fumbled the words “sombrero” and “mustache” in the clip, which added to the viral moment.
Rep. Teresa Fernandez melts down over a meme Trump posted: "HE PUT HIM IN A SOMBRERO!!" pic.twitter.com/bSD2MoUIDD
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 30, 2025
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., called the video “insulting” and said that Trump was “out of touch with the health care challenges of the American people.
Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that “the juvenile behavior coming out of the White House should not be dignified by any American.”
Schumer reacted directly, saying, “If you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can’t negotiate. You can only throw tantrums.”
