White House Scrubs Trump’s Racist Video Featuring Obamas After Backlash
Washington — A video shared by President Trump on social media, which included offensive imagery of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, was taken down by the White House on Friday. The footage portrayed the Obamas as apes, igniting a firestorm of criticism.
A White House official stated that the post was made in error by a staff member, although it had initially remained online for some time. The backlash was swift and severe, with both Democrats and Republicans labeling the video as "racist," "offensive," and "unacceptable." Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the video, describing it as part of an "internet meme" that cast Trump as the "King of the Jungle" while depicting Democrats in animal forms.
"Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public," Leavitt remarked, dismissing concerns raised about the post.
The video, lasting just over a minute, propagated false claims regarding the 2020 presidential election being rigged against Trump. It featured a brief clip showing the Obamas' heads superimposed onto primate bodies, accompanied by the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."
Trump posted the video on his Truth Social account late Thursday night. The link to the video now leads to a "not found" page.
As the first Black president and first Black first lady, the Obamas have been frequent targets of disparaging remarks from Trump. He has previously promoted conspiracy theories questioning Obama's birthplace, only acknowledging in 2016 that Obama was born in the United States.
So far, there has been no public response from the Obamas regarding this incident, according to a spokeswoman.
The original video referenced by Leavitt was first shared on X last October by user @xerias_x, who labeled Trump as "King of the Jungle." This AI-generated clip also depicted various Democrats as animals, including Hillary Clinton as a warthog and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a donkey. Joe Biden appeared as a primate, while Kamala Harris was illustrated as a turtle.
In this video, Trump is represented as a lion. Notably, the Obamas were the only Democrats featured in the clip shared by Trump.
The footage quickly drew condemnation from lawmakers across party lines. Many Republicans urged Trump to retract the video and issue an apology.
"Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House," tweeted Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. "The President should remove it."
Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is recognized as the longest-serving Black senator in U.S. history. Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York echoed Scott's sentiments, calling for an immediate deletion of Trump's post.
"The President's post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered," Lawler stated on X.
Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi described the video as "totally unacceptable," while Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska emphasized that any reasonable person would recognize its racist implications.
"The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize," Ricketts wrote on X.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized Republicans for not denouncing what he termed Trump's "disgusting bigotry." He praised the Obamas as "brilliant, compassionate and patriotic Americans" and condemned Trump as "a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder."
California Governor Gavin Newsom also condemned Trump's actions, urging all Republicans to denounce the video immediately.
Despite overwhelming evidence disproving claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, Trump continues to assert that he was the rightful winner. Numerous lawsuits filed by his campaign to contest election results were dismissed by federal judges. Bill Barr, who served as attorney general during Trump's first term, confirmed that no evidence of significant fraud was found that could have altered the election outcome.
The video shared by Trump made unfounded allegations regarding voting machines from Dominion Voting Systems. These claims led to defamation lawsuits against various media outlets and individuals who propagated them.
Dominion has argued in its lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax that these networks defamed it by broadcasting baseless allegations about election rigging. The company also pursued legal action against Rudy Giuliani for promoting false claims about election integrity.
In 2023, Fox News settled with Dominion for $787.5 million over defamation claims, while Newsmax agreed to pay $67 million last August. Giuliani reached a confidential settlement with Dominion last September.
Former special counsel Jack Smith revealed that Giuliani had disavowed several claims he made publicly regarding election integrity during an interview with his team. Smith oversaw Trump's prosecution related to alleged efforts to undermine the transfer of power after the 2020 election. Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and the case was dropped after he won re-election in November 2024.
