Representative Madeleine Dean (D-PA) shared a deepfake video featuring House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), which discussed President Trump.
The altered video, created using artificial intelligence, shows Jeffries wearing a sombrero and mustache and Schumer with a handlebar mustache.
When Dean questioned Johnson about a video Trump shared on the True Social Platform and Social Platform X, Johnson replied that it “wasn’t [his] style” before walking away.
Dean responded, “Not your style? It’s disgraceful. It’s prejudice. It’s racist. You should acknowledge it,” as captured in a clip by CNN’s Manu Raju.
In a later interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Johnson characterized Trump’s video as a “joke” and downplayed it as a “real problem.”
“Tonight’s fight isn’t about a social media post,” he said. “It’s about whether Democrats will keep the government open for Americans.”
The video also includes a remark from Schumer suggesting that offering free health care to illegal immigrants might sway them to vote for Democrats.
Johnson, Vice President Trump, and other Republican lawmakers have accused Democrats of focusing on immigrant health care in their negotiations to avert a government shutdown.
A Democratic proposal aimed at funding the government through October was rejected by all 53 Republicans on Tuesday. This proposal included a permanent extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) grants and a significant recovery of Medicaid cuts.
However, only immigrants with legal status can obtain ACA grants and register for Medicaid; those without legal status are not eligible.
Emergency Medicaid payments can be made to hospitals for individuals without legal status, but according to KFF, a non-partisan health policy research group, these payments represent less than 1% of total Medicaid spending for 2023.
KFF also indicated that approximately 1.4 million immigrants could lose their health coverage due to tax and budget laws enacted in July.
Jeffries and Schumer criticized Trump for the video, with Jeffries challenging Trump to confront him directly and Schumer commenting that Trump was “trolling on the internet like he was 10 years old.”
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Roger Marshall (Kansas) labeled the video a “jest” during a CNN appearance.
