Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday said he told House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) that protesting President Trump’s trolling would “make it worse.”
“We live in a social media age, and people use it,” Johnson told MSNBC’s Ali Vitali in an interview that aired Monday. “I think President Trump uses it as effectively as anybody ever has.”
“And I told my friend Hakeem, who is my friend, I said, ‘Man, don’t pay attention to it, don’t respond to it, because it makes it worse,’” he added.
Trump shared a video last week generated by artificial intelligence (AI) featuring Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). A sombrero and mustache were superimposed on the House Democratic leader as Latin-inspired music played in the background.
“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 bulls—,” Schumer is made to say in the altered video. “Not even Black people want to vote for us anymore. Even Latinos hate us.”
A day later, Trump mocked Jeffries with another AI video, in which Jeffries again was depicted with a sombrero and an exaggerated handlebar mustache.
“Mr. President, the next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video,” Jeffries said at the Capitol last Tuesday.
On Monday, Jeffries challenged Johnson to a debate over the government shutdown on the House floor, with tensions remaining high between Republicans and Democrats in Washington as the shutdown drags on.
“Democrats have been clear and consistent in our position,” Jeffries wrote in a letter to Johnson. “The country needs immediate, bipartisan negotiations between the White House and congressional leadership in order to reach an enlightened spending agreement that reopens the government, improves the lives of hardworking American taxpayers and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis.”
