Donald Trump’s administration continue to troll top Democrats, this time with a Cinco de Mayo post, but it backfired when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer clapped back with a meme of the president and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The White House shared an AI-generated image of Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Tuesday wearing sombreros and drinking margaritas with a sign that read, “I love illegal immigrants.”
“Happy Cinco de Mayo to all who celebrate!” the White House captioned the image in a post on X.
Cinco de Mayo, or the “fifth of May,” originated as a celebration of Mexican forces’ victory over the French army in the 19th century. While it is still observed in Mexico as a historical event, Americans in the U.S. often mark it as a time to drink, eat Mexican food and enjoy music from mariachi bands.
In a follow-up post, Schumer wished the White House a “Happy Cinco de Mayo,” accompanied by a real photo of Trump and Epstein from decades ago when they ran in the same social circles. The photo had been modified to add sombreros to their heads.
Trump’s old ties to Epstein, a wealthy financier who was accused of sexually abusing minor girls for years before dying by suicide in jail in 2019, have been scrutinized during his second term.
The president has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing. After Epstein’s 2019 arrest for alleged federal sex trafficking crimes, Trump said he hadn’t talked to him for about 15 years, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Trump appeared reluctant at first to release government files related to Epstein, before Congress pushed through a bill to compel the Justice Department to disclose the documents. The DOJ later released millions of documents and images from the so-called Epstein files, but it has been accused of not disclosing all of them and of over-redacting information contained in some of the files that were released.
Trump first shared AI-generated posts of Jeffries wearing a sombrero ahead of the weeks-long government shutdown last fall, which received backlash for being racist.
In one apparently AI-modified video, Jeffries, with a handlebar mustache and sombrero, stood next to Schumer, who said, “If we give all these illegal aliens health care, we might be able to get them on our side so they can vote for us.”
The posts were used to rebuke Democrats’ demand for affordable healthcare, which was central to the congressional impasse that led to the shutdown.
Republicans had claimed that Democrats were trying to fund healthcare for undocumented immigrants, despite the group not being eligible for such federal programs.
Trump’s social media use has put him in hot water on other occasions, such as when he shared a racist video of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama’s faces superimposed onto the bodies of dancing primates in February.
