Trump sued by parents of toddlers featured in doctored 'racist baby' video
- The parents of two toddlers who were featured in a manipulated "racist baby" video are suing Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, and Logan Cook, a conservative meme creator who goes by Carpe Donktum.
- The video, created by Cook, was manipulated to show a Black child running away from a white child with the caption "Terrified Todler [sic] Runs From Racist Baby" and "Racist Baby Probably A Trump Voter."
- At the time, Twitter labeled the video as "manipulated media," removing it in response to a copyright claim from the children's parents.
The parents of two toddlers who were featured in a doctored "racist baby" video that President Donald Trump tweeted in June are suing the president, his campaign, and conservative meme-maker Logan Cook (better known as Carpe Donktum). The filing was submitted Thursday to the New York Supreme Court.
The lawsuit, filed by Michael Cisneros, Alex Hanson, Erica McKenna, and Daniel McKenna individually and on behalf of their children, alleges that Cook "manipulated and adulterated" a video of their children without their written consent, and is seeking unspecified damages, according to The Wrap.
The video in question, which is still available on YouTube, contained manipulated footage that appeared to show a Black child running away from a white child, edited to appear to have originated from a CNN news segment, with a banner that, per the lawsuit, read "Terrified Todler [sic] Runs From Racist Baby" and "Racist Baby Probably A Trump Voter."
The original video, which was featured on CNN, features the two toddlers hugging.
Trump shared the video on his personal social media accounts, and Facebook and Twitter both removed it in response to a copyright claim from the children's parents. Twitter also labeled the video as "manipulated media," signifying that it had been significantly edited.
Cook's Twitter account, Carpe Donktum, was permanently banned by Twitter after the incident, following "repeated" copyright violations. The lawsuit alleges that the Trump campaign account, @Team Trump, also retweeted the video.
The lawsuit alleges that Cook created the video "with reckless disregard of the true nature of the original video." It also alleges that both Trump and his campaign used Cook's memes, including the video, to seek donations for his re-election campaign.
The Trump Campaign and representatives for Trump and Cook did not immediately respond to requests for comment.