Donald Trump Sued By Parents Of Toddlers Shown In Doctored ‘Racist Baby’ Video He Shared
Donald Trump is being sued by the parents of two toddlers who were featured in a doctored video the president shared, footage made to appear as if the white child was racist and chasing his Black friend.
As the Daily Mail reported, the lawsuit was filed on Thursday in New York Supreme Court, claiming that the person who made the video was acting “beyond the bounds of decency” and that the president showed a “complete disregard for the truth” by sharing it with his 86 million Twitter followers.
The suit is seeking unspecified damages against Trump.
The post shared by Trump was a twist on a viral video from last year showing the two toddlers running to give each other a hug. The doctored version made it appear as if the white toddler was instead chasing the Black toddler. The doctored clip was meant to be an attack on cable news network CNN, as it included a fake chyron that read “Terrified Toddler Runs from Racist Baby” and “Racist Baby Probably a Trump Voter.” The video ended with the actual footage showing the friends running toward each other and hugging, implying that it been digitally altered by CNN when it aired.
Instead, it was created by pro-Trump meme maker Logan Cook, who was also named in the lawsuit filed this week. It ended with a black screen and the following words.
“America Is Not The Problem. Fake News Is. If You See Something, Say Something. Only You Can Prevent Fake News Dumpster Fires.”
The footage itself was later removed in response to a report by the copyright holder, though Trump’s tweet — as seen here— remained up with a link to the now-non-existent clip. The footage was also removed by Facebook as it came under widespread criticism for the use of two young children in what was seen as a political attack.
The parents of the two children had already spoken out against Trump and the maker of the video, saying in a June interview that they were planning to explore any legal options available in responding to it.
As The Inquisitr reported in July, Twitter later added a blue label with a circled exclamation point to the post, informing viewers that it was “Manipulated Media.” While campaigning ahead of the 2016 election, Trump frequently said that as president he would loosen libel laws to make it easier for people to sue when they are smeared by the media. But his administration has led no significant efforts to change libel laws, which vary in each state.
