The U.S. government might be shut down, but its meme machine is working overtime. In what some are calling a new low for political discourse, both parties are slinging AI-generated memes to win over voters—and trolls.
Featured VideoIt started with Donald Trump’s team posting a barrage of AI-edited videos showing Democratic leaders like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and mustache.
The clips suggest Democrats want to throw a “medical money party at the undocumented,” as Stephen Colbert sarcastically put it.
But the president’s allies didn’t stop there. Vice President J.D. Vance doubled down in a public statement, saying, “If Hakeem Jeffries helps us reopen the government, the sombrero memes will stop.”
AdvertisementColbert, naturally, responded on The Late Show with a satirical sketch and a promise of his own: “If you resign as VP, I won’t keep showing that every chance I get.”
Ronny Chieng breaks down both sides
Over on The Daily Show, Ronny Chieng tackled the so-called meme war from both directions. He mocked Democrats for their weak responses, including a “Kitty Explains” meme blaming the GOP for the shutdown. “Wow, that was also not good,” he said. “Still better than whatever Batman villain Chuck Schumer is turning into.”
But Republicans, Chieng argued, aren’t faring any better. “The sombrero meme is undefeated,” he quipped, pointing to Ted Cruz’s version of the meme slapped onto 44 Democratic senators. “Once Ted Cruz joins in on something, it’s dead.”
AdvertisementChieng then turned to the real reason Republicans are using the meme: to claim Democrats are shutting down the government to fund healthcare for undocumented immigrants. But as he explained, that accusation doesn’t hold up.
Colbert takes it further
Colbert tore into the infantile nature of the meme war. “This is now our level of political discourse,” he said. “This is worse than the Lincoln-Douglas debates when Abe said, ‘Here’s a drawing I did of Mr. Douglas eating horse droppings.’”
AdvertisementHe also shared his own couch-themed meme of JD Vance.
Not everyone thinks the meme war is funny. One YouTube commenter wrote, “This is the worst American government I’ve ever had the displeasure of living under. Thank you, Mr. Colbert, for your satirical skewering of the truth.”
AdvertisementOthers called out the hypocrisy: “They are lying to take money away from Americans to go to the billionaires, and blaming immigrants.”
As one viewer said under Chieng’s segment: “I hate it here. I don’t want a meme war. I want a boring, dull government that works.”
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