Parents of toddlers who appeared in doctored ‘racist baby’ video sue the president
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The parents of two toddlers who featured in a doctored video which was shared by Donald Trump on Twitter earlier this year are suing the president.
The lawsuit was filed in the New York Supreme Court on Thursday and alleged that those behind the video, including pro-Trump meme maker Logan Cook, behaved in a manner that was ‘extreme, shocking and outrageous’ and ‘beyond the bounds of decency.’
It also accused Trump of pushing ‘his brand of sensationalism in complete disregard for the truth.’
The second part of the chyron read ‘racist baby probably a Trump voter’. It never aired on CNN but the video was edited to make it look like it had
The parents of two toddlers who featured in a doctored video which was shared by Donald Trump on Twitter earlier this year are suing the president
Maxwell and Finnegan share a love of Disney and live one block away from each other. ‘They communicate with each other in ways we don’t understand’, Maxwell’s dad Michael says
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages, according to a report in The Wrap.
The original video showed the moment two-year-old boys named Maxwell and Finnegan were filmed racing towards one another for a big best friend – ‘besties’ – hug.
The doctored version had been edited to look like a package from CNN.
Michael D. Cisneros with his son Maxwell
It showed the black child running in the opposite direction from the white boy with a fake CNN strap which read: ‘Breaking news. Terrified toddler runs from racist baby. Racist baby probably a Trump voter.’
The shot cuts away to a black screen with the message ‘what actually happened’. It then shows the two boys running towards each other in the street to hug.
Michael Cisneros, who adopted Maxwell who is featured in the video as a newborn, has previously taken to Facebook slamming Trump. He wrote: ‘He (Trump) will not turn this loving, beautiful video to further his hate agenda.’
Maxwell and Finnegan became best friends after their parents met in a New York restaurant and have been ‘inseparable’ ever since.
The real video, of the two boys hugging in the street, went viral last year and recently resurfaced in joyful memes about reuniting with friends and family when the coronavirus pandemic is over.
Trump shared the edited version on Twitter in June.
He was criticized for making use of a video featuring two young children to promote a political message.
The clip is a selectively edited and spliced version of a viral video from last year showing two two-year-old boys – one black and one white – embracing
Trump tweeted the clip, which showed the actual footage of young Maxwell (above) running with open arms to embrace his friend Finnegan (below) in New York City last fall, as a way of criticizing media coverage of racial tensions in America
The two boys are seen embracing in the clip that the president shared on social media in June
The White House defended Trump’s tweet as sarcastic and funny. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump was making ‘a satirical point that was quite funny’ and noted his tweet was specifically targeted at CNN, a TV network the president regularly blasts as fake news.
Twitter and Facebook later removed the video posted by President Trump after one of the parents who filmed the encounter last year filed a copyright claim.
Jukin Media, the online company that entered into a licensing agreement with the parent who filmed the original encounter, submitted a notice to Twitter demanding that the tech companies remove the clip.
‘A doctored version of a video that belongs to one of Jukin Media’s video partners was posted to Twitter by President Trump,’ a Jukin spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
Twitter was quick to remove the doctored clip of a viral video that was posted by President Trump after the owner claimed copyright infringement
‘Neither the video owner nor Jukin Media gave the President permission to post the video, and after our review, we believe that his unauthorized usage of the content is a clear example of copyright infringement without valid fair use or other defense.’
Twitter marked the tweet as ‘manipulated media’ just hours after Facebook banned adverts for the president’s re-election campaign which they said featured a symbol used by the Nazis.
CNN reacted angrily to the president’s tweet and said Trump was ‘tweeting fake videos that exploit innocent children’.
‘CNN did cover this story – but exactly as it happened. Just as CNN has reported your positions on race (and your poll numbers).
‘We’ll continue working with facts and invite you to do the same, rather than tweeting fake videos that exploit innocent children. Be better,’ a spokesman said at the time.
The true story behind the edited viral video of two two-year-old ‘besties’ posted by Trump
President Trump on Thursday used a deceptively edited video of two toddlers to claim that CNN was distorting coverage of racial tensions in America.
But the actual video was first posted last fall. The two little boys who melted hearts in the video are seen racing towards each other with open arms for a big hug.
Maxwell and Finnegan became best friends after their parents met in a New York restaurant and have been ‘inseparable’ ever since.
Maxwell and Finnegan became best friends after their parents met in a New York restaurant
Now the youngsters are such firm friends that the two families vacation together upstate, Maxwell Hanson’s dad Michael Cisneros told DailyMail.com last September.
In the adorable clip shared last fall, Maxwell and his friend Finnegan, who are both two years old and separated in age by just a month, can both be seen running towards each other giggling and laughing.
Maxwell Hanson was on his way home from daycare in Brooklyn with his dads Alex, 39, and Michael when they bumped into Finnegan and his dad, Dan.
Speaking to DailyMail.com Michael, 43, said: ‘We really got on with his parents so we started all hanging out and their friendship just blossomed.
‘Once they saw each other they immediately started running towards each other, and that’s when I pulled out my camera.’
The two boys are said to share a love of Disney, watching Moana, Coco and The Lion King together and live just one block away from each other.
Michael, who adopted Maxwell as a newborn baby with partner Alex, added: ‘His parents and us met just over a year ago and really connected.
‘They are always super excited to see each other, even if they’ve only been a part. They are partners in crime and when one does something, the other does as well.
‘We have a place upstate with a pool, and Finnegan and his parents come stay with us often.’
Michael said the boys now share their toys, food and clothes and even ‘communicate with each other in ways we don’t understand’.
He added: ‘And whenever they are apart, they each ask for each other. It really is the cutest thing.’
Finnegan is described by Michael as the ‘more outgoing one’, while his son Maxwell ‘is a bit shy until he gets to know someone’. But he added: ‘They are both super active.’
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