President Trump was sued on Thursday by the parents of two toddlers featured in a doctored video that was shared by the president and his campaign on social media in June.
The lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court, said that Trump, his campaign and Logan Cook, a pro-Trump meme maker known as Carpe Donktum online who created the doctored video, behaved in a manner that was “extreme, shocking and outrageous” and “beyond the bounds of decency.” The suit also said that Trump, in sharing the manipulated video, was pushing “his brand of sensationalism in complete disregard for the truth.”
The video in question, which was based on original footage that aired on CNN of a Black and white toddler hugging each other, was manipulated to appear as if the Black child was being chased by the white child while a fake chyron said, “Terrified Todler [sic] Runs from Racist Baby” and “Racist Baby Probably a Trump Voter.” The video was later taken down by Facebook and Twitter due to copyright complaints, and Twitter also permanently suspended Cook, the manipulated video’s creator, for repeated copyright violations.
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages.
“The claim that creating social or political commentary about a video that has been purposely shared to millions of people, featured in news articles, and broadcast on television violates anyone’s legal rights is patently absurd,” Cook said in a statement sent to TheWrap on Friday. “I look forward to meeting [the plaintiffs] in court with my lawyer Ron Coleman and my co-defendant Donald J. Trump.”
Representatives for Trump and the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.