CNN Is Panicking About White House Mariachi Memes

CNN anchors John Berman and Kaitlan Collins appeared to have trouble wrapping their brains around the Trump administration’s willingness to defend — and even embrace — a meme they described as “racist” without any apparent concern about the repercussions for doing so.

Berman raised the topic during a Wednesday conversation with Collins, noting that the meme in question — an AI-doctored video which featured House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) with a fake mustache and a sombrero — had been on full display at the White House briefing room.

WATCH:

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins can’t believe the Trump admin is doubling down with memes and mariachi music in the WH briefing room:

“They simply don’t care about the criticism.”

Correct — and that’s exactly what’s driving the propaganda press insane. They’re powerless. pic.twitter.com/hduEvgFT3q

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 2, 2025

“So we played sound from Vice President Vance not just defending that AI racist video of Minority Leader Jeffries wearing a sombrero, but also, like celebrating that video, and it was playing on a loop in the briefing room today,” Berman said, turning to Collins: “What are you hearing from the inside about that?”

Collins set the scene for Berman, saying that in addition to the video being played on a loop, the mariachi music from the video had been piped through the room’s sound system so that everyone could hear it.

“It just kind of gives you a window, John, into how they’re dealing with this,” Collins continued. “And how they believe they have the upper hand when it comes to the messaging here and also kind of how things have changed from the first time Donald Trump was in office.”

Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout

“I mean, there was a shut down then, I remember all 35 days of it, as the president said at the beginning he’d be ‘proud to shut the government down,’ and that it ended with him obviously not getting the money for his border wall,” she added. “This time, you know, there’s a moment here, they’re being heavily criticized over this — over these posts by the president — by Democrats, and instead of backing off or apologizing for it, they’re leaning into it. They’re playing the music over loudspeakers and on repeat inside the briefing room because they simply don’t care about that criticism.”

Vice President JD Vance, when asked about the memes, gave his word that the sombrero memes would stop if and when Jeffries helped put an end to the government shutdown, which was triggered Tuesday when Democrats refused to vote for a stopgap funding measure unless they got certain concessions.