President Donald Trump is doubling down amid bipartisan backlash for posting a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. While the late Thursday night video has since been removed, Trump insists he did not view the full clip before it was shared and has declined to apologize.
What Trump Told Reporters About The Video
According to ABC News, Trump addressed the controversy Friday evening while speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One. He claimed he only watched the beginning of the video, which focused on debunked claims about voter fraud tied to the 2020 election, and did not see the racist imagery that appeared at the end.
“I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of picture people don’t like. I wouldn’t like it either, but I didn’t see it,” Trump said. “I just, I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud.”
ABC News reports that the video abruptly cuts to imagery showing the Obamas’ faces placed on the bodies of apes, accompanied by the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight, before returning to election conspiracy footage. The post went live at approximately 11:44 p.m. ET on Thursday and was taken down by midday Friday following widespread criticism.
When asked whether he would apologize, Trump declined.
“No, I didn’t make a mistake,” he said, adding that he reviews “thousands of things” and found the beginning of the video “fine.” However, when pressed on whether he condemned the racist imagery itself, Trump responded, “Of course I do.”
White House Response And Lawmaker Condemnation
ABC News states that the White House initially defended the post. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the backlash in an early statement, characterizing the video as an internet meme and accusing critics of “fake outrage.” Later Friday, a White House official told ABC News that a staffer had “erroneously made the post,” marking a shift in the administration’s response.
Lawmakers from both parties condemned the video. Republican Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, called the post “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House” and urged Trump to remove it. Trump later confirmed he spoke with Scott by phone, telling him the post was a mistake and would be taken down.
Democratic leaders were more direct. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries defended the Obamas as “brilliant, compassionate and patriotic Americans,” while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer described the imagery as “racist,” “vile,” and “abhorrent,” calling for an apology.
ABC News states that the Obamas declined to comment when contacted and later shared unrelated posts wishing Team USA luck at the Winter Olympics.
Cultural Context
Whether Trump watched the full video, he reposted it. Previously reported by BOSSIP, the AI-generated video made it onto Trump’s Truth Social account under the guise of highlighting alleged voting machine “anomalies.”
Embedded within that content was imagery depicting the Obamas as apes, a racist trope historically used to dehumanize Black people and reinforce white supremacist ideology. It’s not “just a meme.”
Is this his “Great America?”
The White House’s initial reaction was not accountability, but dismissal. The administration waved off criticism as inconsequential and labeled public outrage as “fake” before pivoting to blame a staffer amid mounting backlash. Then, trying to pass it off as a Lion King reference?
Seems like the attention span or to detail is not there.
Again, why does such imagery continue to circulate unchecked in political spaces?
Going Forward
As the controversy continues, this raises larger questions about responsibility in the digital age. Why is the Trump administration so comfortable using fake, insensitive and incorrect AI videos? Remember the “Y.N.” controversy?
The normalization of racist symbolism in political messaging is becoming harder to swallow, with the harm being both visible and historically rooted.
