Trump's AI videos of top Democrat were a joke, not racist, Vance says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday described AI-manipulated videos that President Donald Trump posted on social media of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries as a joke, dismissing complaints from Democrats that the videos were racist.

Trump is butting heads with Democratic leaders over a government shutdown that is in its first day.

On Monday, he posted a clip on his Truth Social account featuring Jeffries speaking outside the White House with a superimposed handlebar mustache and a sombrero, while Mariachi music plays in the background. Jeffries is Black, with his mother tracing her roots to Cape Verde.

After Jeffries condemned the original post as "disgusting" in an MSNBC interview, Trump posted a video of Jeffries from that interview, with a mustache and sombrero again added. The White House replayed the clip on large screens in the press briefing room on Wednesday.

"I think it's funny. The president's joking and we're having a good time," Vance said at a White House press conference, when asked by a reporter how the images squared with the White House's assertions that it is willing to negotiate with Democratic leaders in good faith.

"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."

Jeffries and other high-ranking Democrats have called the images racist and bigoted. Trump himself has at times employed xenophobic, racist or sexist comments throughout his political career.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)