MAGA Supporters Turn on Trump Team Over 'Tone Deaf' AI Video Showing Officials Popping Champagne on Luggage Cart

A White House deputy chief of staff's AI-generated celebration clip has triggered backlash from some conservatives within Donald Trump's political base.

Dan Scavino, one of President Donald Trump's longest-serving aides, posted an AI-generated video of himself and members of the Trump family popping a bottle of champagne on a gilded luggage cart.

The clip, shared late on 26 September 2026, came in response to images and discussion surrounding the White House's state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping. Instead, it drew criticism from conservatives as Republicans seek to make affordability a central issue ahead of the November midterms.

The Video and Its Timing

The 50-year-old deputy chief of staff, who also runs the Presidential Personnel Office, posted the AI-generated clip to multiple platforms.

The clip shows him in a tuxedo with a bottle of champagne, riding a gilded luggage cart through an ornate, confetti-covered room alongside a laughing man and two women in evening gowns, with President Trump walking into frame at one point.

The video appears to show him popping champagne with his wife, Erin Elmore, and the president's son Eric Trump alongside his wife, Lara Trump, all set to Pitbull's 'Don't Stop the Party'.

Scavino tied the post directly to that week's state dinner. In his caption, Scavino said the post was not intended to make 'the Dems heads explode' and that, after images from the state dinner emerged, he felt inclined to share his own 'in complete transparency, with the American People', signing off with 'GOD BLESS THE USA!!!'

The dinner he referenced was no small affair. Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, arrived in Washington for a three-day state visit, with a state dinner held in the White House East Room on 24 September 2026.

Even before the champagne clip surfaced, some Republicans had questioned the lavish welcome for Beijing's leader.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker said that, had the White House asked his advice, he would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome, citing troubling issues with the Chinese Communist Party.

Scavino is not a peripheral figure in Trump's orbit. He has served as the president's social media director since the 2016 campaign and now holds one of the most senior posts in the West Wing, overseeing the Presidential Personnel Office in addition to his deputy chief of staff duties.

His social media posts have long been a prominent part of Trump's political communications operation, making the response to the video notable.

Conservatives Round on Scavino

Much of the reported criticism came from conservatives, with several prominent figures and MAGA-aligned accounts responding to the video. The criticism came as Republicans face concerns over affordability and Trump's approval ratings ahead of the November midterms.

Conservative activist Carrie Prejean Boller, a former Miss California USA and former Trump ally, criticised the post. She wrote that Scavino had shown no shame while many Americans could not afford groceries, petrol or mortgage payments, calling the clip a 'tone deaf AI video' of him and his colleagues partying at 'the People's House'.

Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the centre-right outlet The Dispatch, responded sarcastically to the clip's potential political impact, remarking that it was exactly the midterm messaging the GOP needed from the deputy White House chief of staff.

Self-identified MAGA-aligned accounts also criticised the post, with one writing that the video would 'really resonate with everyday Americans' before calling the administration 'so out of touch'.

A Wider Pattern of Republican Unease

The uproar lands amid Republican concerns about November. Trump's advisers have reportedly urged him to focus more on affordability heading into the 2026 midterms, while Democrats made significant gains in the 2025 off-year elections.

A number of Republican candidates, including some Trump has endorsed, have removed or reduced references to the president on their campaign websites ahead of the vote.

Economic concerns have framed much of the criticism. Republican strategists have repeatedly warned that grocery, fuel and housing costs could be a significant liability for the party in the midterms, while a September Reuters/Ipsos poll put Trump's approval rating at 32%, the lowest of his political career.

Against that backdrop, a senior White House official appearing to celebrate with champagne drew criticism from some conservatives who argued that the imagery was out of step with Americans facing higher living costs.

Whether the episode changes anything inside the West Wing remains to be seen, but it adds another point of criticism for an administration facing growing scrutiny over its handling of the economy ahead of the November midterms.