<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The White House on Tuesday re-upped a social media insult depicting top Democrats in sombreros as a way to suggest they are soft on immigration.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The fake image of Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York was captioned: “Happy Cinco de Mayo to all who celebrate!”</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The posting was a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/us/politics/vance-jeffries-deepfake-video.html" title="">reprisal of one</a> that President Trump, who has often used racist attacks against his political opponents, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1972822596397003159" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">posted in September</a> and which was widely <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/29/politics/trump-ai-generated-video-schumer-jeffries-shutdown" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">condemned as racist</a>. That post was designed to goad Democratic leaders during negotiations over a government shutdown, and falsely accused them of trying to give free health care to undocumented immigrants.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">On Tuesday, Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries hit back with a meme of their own, posting a chummy image of President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, also with sombreros superimposed on their heads.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“Happy Cinco de Mayo, @WhiteHouse!” the post said.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, responded with an attack on The Times. </p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Trump has escalated his attacks on Mr. Jeffries in recent weeks, posting repeatedly about him on his Truth Social platform. He blasted Mr. Jeffries for criticizing the Supreme Court — which Mr. Trump has also repeatedly attacked — after the Democrat called it “illegitimate” for gutting the Voting Rights Act.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Last Friday, Mr. Trump posted a picture of Mr. Jeffries holding a baseball bat, and called him “Low IQ,” an insult Mr. Trump has frequently lobbed at Black people.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“Low IQ Democrat Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, is nothing but a THUG, and he is a danger to our Country!” <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116502796687355089" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">Mr. Trump wrote</a>.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Jeffries has hit back at the president in television interviews and social media posts, saying that the president suffered from “Jeffries Derangement Syndrome,” — a twist on the “Trump Derangement Syndrome” the president often cites to attack his critics. </p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-3"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-2"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Jeffries also offered a pointed response to Mr. Trump’s insulting his intellectual ability. “It’s extraordinary to me that Donald Trump keeps recycling this low-IQ insult,” <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.youtube.com/live/kY9H5OcLrTk?t=1234s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">Mr. Jeffries said in a news conference last month</a>. “This is from the dumbest president ever to sit at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and there’s not even a close second.”</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div>