- Trump said he had not watched the entire video before it was shared and insisted he was unaware of the offensive content
- Trump said he supported the video’s message on alleged voter fraud but conceded that his team should have reviewed it more carefully before publication
- Democratic leaders also reacted strongly, with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker bluntly labelling Trump a racist
US President Donald Trump has denied knowingly sharing a social media video that included a racist portrayal of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Eko Hot Blog gathered that the controversial clip appeared at the tail end of a 62-second video Trump posted on his Truth Social account, which focused largely on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 US presidential election.
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The final seconds of the video showed a racist depiction of the Obamas as apes, set to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight. The post was later deleted.
Addressing reporters on Friday, Trump said he had not watched the entire video before it was shared and insisted he was unaware of the offensive content.
He maintained that he had only seen the opening portion of the clip and that it was uploaded by a staff member.
“I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump said when asked if he planned to apologise, adding that he would not have approved the post had he known it contained such imagery.
The White House initially dismissed criticism of the video, describing it as an “internet meme” and urging critics to stop what it called “fake outrage.”
However, following intense backlash including criticism from senior Republicans, the video was removed, and a White House official later acknowledged that a staffer had posted it in error.
The clip is believed to have originated from a post shared on X by a conservative meme creator in October. In addition to the Obamas, the video also portrayed other prominent Democrats including Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani , as animals.
Trump said he supported the video’s message on alleged voter fraud but conceded that his team should have reviewed it more carefully before publication.
“If they had seen the whole thing, they probably would have had the sense to take it down,” he said, noting that it was removed once the issue was flagged.
Several Republicans openly condemned the post. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina described it as deeply offensive, calling it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”
New York Representative Mike Lawler said the video was “wrong and incredibly offensive,” whether intentional or not, and demanded its immediate removal and an apology.
Even after the post was taken down, criticism continued. Utah Senator John Curtis described the clip as “blatantly racist and inexcusable,” while civil rights groups, including the NAACP, condemned it as despicable and inflammatory.
Democratic leaders also reacted strongly, with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker bluntly labelling Trump a racist, while California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said the incident should be denounced by all Republicans.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also issued a scathing response, accusing Trump of promoting bigotry. The Obamas have not commented publicly on the video.
The incident has renewed scrutiny of Trump’s long history of attacks on Barack Obama, including his past promotion of the false “birther” conspiracy that questioned Obama’s US citizenship, a claim Trump later admitted was untrue.
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