President Donald Trump has shared a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes in a late-night Truth Social posting spree — and drew quick rebuke across the political world for his social media post.
Some described it as “disgusting” and “racist” and condemned the president for the messaging. There is also confusion about who made the post, leading to more questions regarding the video post on Trump’s account.
Initially, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the post and called the outrage toward it “fake.”
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” Leavitt said. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Hours after her comments — and 12 hours since it was first posted — the video was taken down. A senior White House official said a staffer posted it “erroneously.”
One unnamed official told The Hill that Trump was unaware when the video went up, and the employee “really let the president down.”
The clip of the Obamas appeared at the end of an unrelated video that allegedly debunked claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, which Trump has claimed was stolen from him, despite evidence to the contrary. A minute into the video, the clip was inserted, showing the faces of the Obamas superimposed on the bodies of two great apes, animated and dancing against an apparent jungle background to the soundtrack of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
The Obamas left the White House nine years ago, and Trump ran against then-President Joe Biden in 2020. Despite that, he has frequently included the Obamas in his attacks on Democrats.
Trump was an early champion of the birther conspiracy theory against Obama, claiming that he was not born in the United States; even after Hawaii verified Obama’s birth certificate, Trump claimed many did not believe the birth certificate was legitimate.
Comparing Black people to apes is a racist trope that has been used for centuries to dehumanize people with African heritage.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has emerged as a frequent foil to the president, slammed his “disgusting behavior” in a post on X.
“Every single Republican must denounce this,” Newsom wrote. “Now.”
Other X users quickly reacted with horror to the video, which was shared during Black History Month.
Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who has backed Trump and appeared with him at rallies, condemned the post.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” Scott said. “The President should remove it.”
There was also swift outrage across social media about the post.
“Let’s be clear. If you are defending Trump over his Obama ape video. You are a racist,” one X user wrote. “It is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen posted by a public figure.”
“In 2026, after nearly 250 years of the formation of the nation, for an American President to depict the nation’s first Black President as an ape is racism which crosses a red line. Donald Trump should resign,” another added.
“There’s absolutely no way that any black Trump Supporters can defend this. How do you defend a white man posting images of Black people as, Monkeys,” another said.
Trump’s slew of posts around midnight canvassed a wide range of his pet topics, including multiple claims of voter fraud in various elections; video clips relating to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks; sharing a screenshot of an X post claiming Democrats were “anti-Christ, anti-family, anti-Black and anti-life”; and a video about trash collection in New York City.
Amid the barrage of grievances and conspiracy theories, he also reshared a Super Bowl ad for his Invest America initiative, the so-called “Trump accounts” for children, which will kickstart savings programs for them with the help of the federal government.
The ad shows several young people discussing their future plans, including buying homes and studying.
The clip was shared on X by billionaire Michael Dell, who is investing $6.25 billion in the program with his wife, Susan; Dell said it was “time to give every child a stake in the American Dream.”
Trump shared a screenshot of the X post on Truth Social without additional commentary, then immediately returned to posts about voting, and a claim that Obama had been “spying on him.”
The president’s fixation on voting processes saw him call earlier this week for Republicans to “take over” elections and “nationalize” them.
“We should take over the voting in at least 15 places,” the president suggested.
Leavitt — when asked by reporters about Trump’s comments on Tuesday — assured them that the president “believes in the United States Constitution.”
Trump has been insistent that he only lost the 2020 election due to massive voter fraud. His allegations have been tested and found false over and over, but he remains convinced that fraud — and not a rejection of him and his ideology — is to blame for his electoral losses.
