Washington, United States. A video shared on President Donald Trump’s social media account depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes was deleted on Friday after criticism that it evoked racist imagery.
Post deleted after White House statement
“A White House staffer erroneously made the post,” a White House official said, declining to be named. “It has been taken down.”
The statement came hours after White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt described as “fake outrage” a wave of negative reactions to the video, including from several prominent Republican lawmakers.
Video content and context
Late on Thursday, Trump shared a minute-long video repeating his false claims that his 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud. The video included an apparently AI-generated clip of dancing primates superimposed with the Obamas’ heads.
Leavitt said the video was “from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King.” Trump’s clip included a song from that musical.
Political reactions
The post on Trump’s Truth Social network drew criticism from prominent political figures, including Republican Senator Tim Scott, a Trump ally who is Black.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” Scott said on X. “The President should remove it.”
Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York was among several other prominent political figures who said Trump should apologize and delete the post.
Response from the Obamas and broader context
A spokesperson for the Obamas declined to comment.
White supremacists have for centuries depicted people of African ancestry as monkeys as part of campaigns to dehumanize and dominate Black populations.
“Let it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying him as a stain on our history,” Ben Rhodes, a former Obama aide, said on X.
What do you think public officials should do when criticized for sharing imagery seen as racist?