MAGA Republicans have doubled down on posting racially-charged sombrero memes to troll Democrats over the government shutdown, vowing their antics will continue until Donald Trump gets his way.
But Democrats have branded the GOP as “deeply unserious” at a time when federal services have come to a halt and countless workers have remained furloughed or at risk of losing their jobs due to the impasse.
As the shutdown entered its second day, the internet was abuzz with childish memes on Thursday, following the release of an AI-generated video the president posted earlier this week featuring House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
The video featured Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking outside the White House, but controversially portrayed the House Leader with a handlebar mustache and a sombrero while mariachi music played in the background.
Despite concerns that the meme was racist, social media is now filled with variations of it, including posts from the White House, members of Congress, right-wing influencers and ordinary Trump voters.
The 44 Senate Democrats who voted for Schumer’s Shutdown should know that the Sombrero posting will continue until they re-open our government. 🎶 Hey, Macarena! 🎶 pic.twitter.com/coNBfnGXcY
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 2, 2025
Texas Senator Ted Cruz posted one meme featuring sombrero-wearing Senate Democrats who voted for the shutdown, writing on X: “The 44 Senate Democrats who voted for Schumer’s Shutdown should know that the Sombrero posting will continue until they re-open our government.”
“Hey, Macarena!” he added.
One Trump-aligned profile superimposed the faces of the Jeffries, Schumer and Democrat Senator Corey Booker into a video of the Three Amigos, while another “America First” meme creator redesigned a video of Kamala Harris sporting a mustache, sombrero and tequila.
“Kamala Harris wanted to get in on the sombrero action,” it read.
Every day Democrats keep the government shut down, the sombrero gets 10x bigger. 🪇DEMOCRAT SHUTDOWN™️ pic.twitter.com/WzfsvlgTDm
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 1, 2025
The White House also doubled down, reposting Trump’s original AI-generated video and warning that “Every day Democrats keep the government shut down, the sombrero gets 10x bigger.”
And on Thursday, JD Vance reposted an image that Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna had made of the vice president with his own sombrero and overgrown mustache.
Asked about Trump’s meme in the White House briefing room earlier, Vance had described it as funny” and laughed off suggestions that it was racist.
“I honestly don’t even know what that means. Like, is he (Jeffries) a Mexican American that is offended by having a sombrero meme?” he asked.
Democrats, however, have branded the antics bigoted and childish at a time when Trump has threatened mass layoffs from “Democrat agencies.”
“It was a xenophobic stereotype, which is why we’ve heard from many Latino organizations denouncing what took place,” Jeffries told CNN.
“The broader problem is it’s deeply unserious, and this is a serious moment. We need to reopen the government. We need to enact a spending agreement that’s bipartisan, that actually meets the needs of the American people and we need to address the Republican healthcare crisis.”
The shutdown is the first in seven years, and took effect just after midnight on Wednesday after a deadlocked Congress failed to reach a deal on funding.
Within hours, the Trump administration froze $18billion in federal funds for New York’s mass transit system; halted $8 billion in climate projects across 16 blue and purple states; fired most of the advisory council members for the National Endowment for the Humanities; and told House Republicans to expect more “consequential” layoffs.
The president also announced on Thursday that he would meet with his Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought about which ”Democrat Agencies” should be slashed.
“I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” he wrote on Truth Social.
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