US President Donald Trump shared a video on his Truth Social account that included racist depictions of former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. The post appeared during a late-night burst of activity and was deleted about 12 hours later after heavy criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.
The clip portrayed the Obamas as apes in a jungle — a long-standing racist trope used to dehumanize Black people. The video also repeated discredited claims that Trump lost the 2020 election because of voter fraud. About a minute in, Barack and Michelle Obama’s faces are superimposed over ape bodies while the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defended the post, calling it “from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King” and urging the media to “stop the fake outrage.” By Friday afternoon the White House said the video had been removed after a “staffer erroneously made the post.” Trump later said he saw only the start of the video, which focused on false voter-fraud claims, and gave it to staffers to post. “Nobody knew that was in the end,” he said, adding he would not apologize: “I didn’t make a mistake.” A spokesperson for the Obamas declined to comment.
The response was swift and bipartisan. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican in the Senate, posted that he was “praying (the video) was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.” Representative Mike Lawler called the post “wrong and incredibly offensive” and said it should be deleted and followed by an apology. Top Democrats condemned the video as racist and vile: former Vice President Kamala Harris called it a White House “cover up,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer described it as “Racist. Vile. Abhorrent.” Former Obama aide Ben Rhodes wrote that the episode should “haunt Trump and his racist followers,” and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called Trump’s behavior “vile, racist and malignant,” urging Republicans to condemn it.
The episode is the latest in a pattern of remarks and actions by Trump that critics say are racist. He promoted the “birther” conspiracy that falsely questioned Obama’s birthplace early in his political career, later acknowledging Obama was born in Hawaii while blaming others for starting the claim. Trump has previously shared images mocking Black politicians, and last year was criticized for depicting Representative Jeffries with a mustache and sombrero. He has also used inflammatory language about immigrants and nations, including calling Somalis “garbage” and referring to some developing countries as “shithole countries.”
Edited by: Sean Sinico