'Like a little boy': GOP senator put on the spot over Trump’s 'offensive' AI image

With GOP and Democratic lawmakers continuing to fight over federal spending and the possibility of a government shutdown drawing closer, President Donald Trump mocked Democrats by posting a fake, AI-generated video that depicts House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) wearing a sombrero while he talks to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York ) and the Mexican standard "El Jarabe Tapatío," a.k.a. "The Mexican Hat Dance," plays in the background.

An AI-generated image of Schumer, in the video, declares, "Nobody likes Democrats anymore. We have no voters left because of all of our woke trans b——. Not even Black people want to vote for us anymore. Even Latinos hate us."

CNN's Kaitlin Collins put Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) on the spot when she asked him to comment on the video during a Tuesday morning, September 30 appearance on her show.

When Collins asked Marshall if the video was "appropriate, in your view," the Kansas Republican nervously replied, "Look, I think sometimes, the president plays with the press like a little boy and a flashlight and dog. And he's shining the flashlight here, and he's shining it there."

Marshall tried to change the subject, but Collins wanted to keep talking about the video and asked if he had any "objections" to him.

Collins responded, "I tell you, I think it's said in jest. I think it's the president making fun of a couple of people that didn't bring a serious request to the White House."

The Daily Beast's Weill Neal notes, "The clip was attacked as not only offensive, but flippant, given the possibility that thousands of federal workers could be out of a job if a funding deal is not reached by Wednesday."