Overview

The Hakeem Jeffries Sombrero Videos refer to a series of AI video edits posted to U.S. President Donald Trump's Truth Social and X / Twitter accounts showing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero while mariachi music plays. The first video was posted in late September 2025 and uses AI to show Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer talking about how nobody likes the Democratic party anymore because of their "woke trans bullshit" and suggesting that they want illegal immigrants to be their new voters. The second video was posted after Jeffries called the first video racist during an MSNBC call, adding a sombrero to Jeffries' head as he responds to the first post. Jeffries' decision not to embrace the meme was criticized by some online, particularly in contrast to Vice President J.D. Vance embracing the J.D. Vance Edits. The incident also inspired further sombrero memes, used both against Trump and Republicans and against Democrats, from other users online in early October 2025.

Background

On September 29th, 2025, President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video edit to Truth Social^[1] of Representative Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Chuck Schumer making an announcement. In the video, Jeffries wears a sombrero and a fake mustache as mariachi music plays in the background. Schumer talks about how the Democrats have no voters left because of their "woke trans bullshit" and claims that they want to give all the "illegal aliens" free healthcare so that maybe they'll vote for them. The video gained over 61,000 likes and 18,500 ReTruths in three days.

It was posted on Trump's X^[2] page minutes later, gaining over 34 million views, 449,000 likes and 90,000 reposts in three days. The post notably came days before the U.S. government shutdown.

"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 bullshit. Not even Black people want to vote for us anymore. Even Latinos hate us! So we need new voters and if we give all these illegal aliens free healthcare, we might be able to get 'em on our side so they can vote for us. They can't even speak English, so they won't realize we're just a bunch of woke pieces of shit. You know? At least for a while, until they learn English and they realize they hate us, too."

Developments

Hakeem Jeffries' Responses

On September 29th, 2025, Hakeem Jeffries posted a photograph of President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein on X,^[3] writing, "This is real," seemingly a response to the AI video, garnering over 45,000 likes and 9,500 reposts in three days.

That day, Jeffries appeared on MSNBC to respond to Trump's sombrero meme post. The video was uploaded to the MSNBC YouTube^[4] channel, garnering over 480,000 views in three days.

In his response, Jeffries calls the video racist and disgusting and criticizes the viewpoints the video shares about healthcare, saying the video is full of lies and clarifying their position on healthcare regarding undocumented immigrants. He then discusses the Epstein and Trump photo.

Second Hakeem Jeffries Sombrero Video

On September 30th, 2025, Donald Trump posted a second video to his Truth Social^[5] and X^[6] accounts, adding a sombrero to Jeffries' head while he responds to the first video on MSNBC, garnering over 45,000 likes on the former and 232,000 likes and 43,000 reposts on the latter in two days.

J.D. Vance's Response

On October 1st, 2025, the PBS NewsHour YouTube^[7] channel uploaded a video of VP J.D. Vance responding to Jeffries' claim that the sombrero videos are racist.

In his response, Vance calls the videos jokes and says that you can "negotiate in good faith while poking fun" at the absurdities of the Democrats' positions. He promises that if Jeffries helps them reopen the government, the sombrero memes will stop. Vance then says he's not sure how it's racist and that everyone knows that it's fake, meaning they won't take it seriously.

The White House's "Every Day The Sombrero Gets Bigger" Post

On October 1st, 2025, the official @WhiteHouse X^[8] page reposted the original sombrero edit, writing, "Every day Democrats keep the government shut down, the sombrero gets 10x bigger 🪇," garnering over 91,000 likes and 14,000 reposts in a day.

Online Reactions

The videos inspired numerous memes and reactions online in late September and early October 2025, including more memes in which sombreros and other stereotypically Mexican items are placed on the heads and bodies of politicians.

On October 1st, 2025, X^[9] user @medinaj1975 posted an edit of a photo of Trump and Epstein in which sombreros have been added to their heads, writing, "The 2 amigos🌮🌮," garnering over 2,200 likes in a day.

Later that day, Republican Senator Ted Cruz posted a video on X^[10] sharing a compilation of Democrats with sombreros set to the Trump 'Macarena' remix, garnering over 61,000 likes and 14,000 reposts in a day.

Later on October 1st, 2025, X^[11] user @Gizmo_Memes posted an edit of former Vice President Kamala Harris in a sombrero holding a bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila, garnering over 17,000 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References