WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — President Donald Trump removed a social media video after a fierce backlash over a racist clip that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. The video sparked outrage across party lines and renewed scrutiny of Trump’s online conduct.
The clip appeared at the end of a 62-second video Trump shared on his Truth Social account late Thursday. The final seconds showed the Obamas portrayed as apes, set to the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” Critics said the imagery echoed long-standing racist caricatures that compare Black people to monkeys.
The video also included depictions of other prominent Democrats as animals. Those figures included New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and President Joe Biden. Biden appeared as an ape eating a banana. The post quickly drew condemnation from civil rights leaders, Democratic officials, and several Republicans. Many demanded its immediate removal and an apology.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a Black Republican and a Trump ally, publicly urged action. He said he prayed the video was fake and called it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.” Scott said the president should remove it.
Rep. Mike Lawler of New York echoed that message. He called the post “wrong and incredibly offensive,” whether intentional or a mistake. He said it should be deleted at once and followed by an apology. The White House later confirmed that the post came down. A White House official said a staffer “erroneously” shared the video.
Before the video’s removal, the White House defended it. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the clip came from an “internet meme video” that depicted Trump as the “King of the Jungle” and Democrats as characters from “The Lion King.” She urged critics to “stop the fake outrage” and focus on issues that matter to Americans. That defense failed to stem the criticism. The backlash grew as screenshots spread across social media platforms, including X.
Democratic leaders denounced the video in strong terms. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office called the post “disgusting behavior by the president” and urged every Republican to condemn it. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker wrote that Trump is a racist.
Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser in the Obama White House, said future Americans would view the Obamas as beloved figures and study Trump as a stain on the nation. NAACP President Derrick Johnson called the video “disgusting and utterly despicable.” He accused Trump of using outrage to distract from the Epstein case and a struggling economy.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also condemned the post. He called Trump “vile, unhinged, and malignant.” Jeffries has accused Trump of racism before, including after Trump shared an AI-generated image depicting Jeffries with a mustache and sombrero.
The racist clip appeared after a minute-long segment that promoted claims of voter fraud in Michigan during the 2020 election. Courts and election officials debunked those claims. Dominion Voting Systems also challenged similar allegations in court and won major settlements against some media companies. The full video appeared to draw from a post shared on X in October by a conservative meme creator. That earlier post also portrayed Democrats as animals.
Trump has a long record of attacking Obama. Before his first term, Trump promoted false claims that Obama was born in Kenya and was not eligible to serve as president. He later acknowledged that Obama was born in the United States. The Obamas have not commented on the video.
