White House's Cinco de Mayo post is slammed as 'racist'
Topics: Politics, Donald Trump, US News
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Topics: Politics, Donald Trump, US News
Trump administration officials have been branded 'racist' for sharing a controversial Cinco de Mayo post.
Spanish for the 'Fifth of May', Cinco de Mayo is an annual commemoration of Mexico's victory over the French at the 1862 Battle of Puebla. Although the win didn't bring the war to a complete end, it considerably boosted Mexican morale and came to represent the nation's determination.
Over time, Cinco de Mayo has become associated with Mexican-American culture.
In Puebla, various festivals and reenactments of the battle take place across the city, while many US residents honour the special day with elaborate parades, street parties, traditional music and dancing.
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Tragically, however, this year's festivities were tainted for millions of celebrants after Donald Trump's team shared an AI-generated image seemingly mocking Mexican culture.
In a post shared to X on Tuesday, animated versions of top Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, were seen wearing sombreros and drinking margaritas.
The pair were also depicted as holding a sign that read, 'I love illegal immigrants'.
The White House press team captioned the post: "Happy Cinco de Mayo to all who celebrate!"
Unsurprisingly, the divisive post hasn't gone down too well with a number of social media users, who've slammed White House officials as using humour as a guise for racism.
One X user hit out: "Sombreros. Margaritas. Chips. Cactus. An 'I Love Illegal Immigrants' sign. All AI-generated. Every single stereotype packed into one image — with the presidential logo on it, off course.
"This isn’t celebration. It’s institutional racism. I feel sick. This does NOT represent American values."
Another begged: "Stop with you racist AI posts."
"Someone needs to put adults in charge of this official government account," a third demanded. "This is beyond embarrassing. Nothing funny about it."
A fourth continued: "What a stupid thing for the stupid White House to post."
"Damn this not crazy to yall?" another questioned. "The way the official White House page is being used to spread hate lol."
This is far from the first time that Republican officials have been called out for their controversial use of AI imagery.
Trump shared a post back in February that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, in a clip he later insisted was supposed to be about voter fraud.
The post prompted outrage online with viewers slamming the post as racist.