Trump condemns video showing Obamas as apes after removal

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump condemned a video posted on his social media account depicting Democratic former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, after it drew widespread criticism—including from some Republicans—for dehumanizing people of African descent.

The White House first defended the post, then deleted it early on Friday, 12 hours after it appeared.

Trump, asked by reporters later in the day if he condemned it, replied, "Of course I do."

A White House official said that "a White House staffer erroneously made the post" and it had been taken down.

'Fake outrage'

Trump said he looked at the "first part" of the video but not the final scene that drew criticism.

"I didn't see the whole thing," Trump said. "I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud in the machines, how crooked it is, how disgusting it is. Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn't."

A Trump adviser previously told Reuters that the president had not seen the video before it was posted late on Thursday and ordered it taken down once he had.

Both officials declined to be named. The White House did not respond to a question about the staffer's identity. Only a few senior aides have direct access to Trump's social media account, according to the Trump adviser.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt hours earlier had defended the post, describing the wave of negative reactions as "fake outrage."

The minute-long video shared on Trump's Truth Social network amplified false claims that his 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud. Spliced into the video near its end was a brief, and apparently AI-generated, clip of dancing primates superimposed with the Obamas' heads.

A spokesperson for the Obamas declined to comment.

Trump has a history of sharing racist rhetoric. He long promoted the false conspiracy theory that Obama, the president from 2009 to 2017, was not born in the United States. Speaking at a prayer breakfast on Thursday, Trump said Obama "was very bad" and a "terrible divider of our country."

Rare rebuke from Republicans

The post drew bipartisan criticism, including from Republican Senator Tim Scott, a close 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."

Other lawmakers in Trump's Republican Party called on him to apologize and delete the post. Some Republican lawmakers also privately reached out to the White House about the video, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Asked about calls from Republicans and others for him to apologize, Trump said, "I didn't make a mistake. I mean, I give, I look at a lot - thousands of things."

Before the post was deleted, Leavitt said it 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 used in that Disney DIS.N musical.

White supremacists have for centuries depicted people of African ancestry as monkeys or apes 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," said Ben Rhodes, a former Obama aide, on X.

Trump's use of social media

Trump, serving his second term in office, has long used social media to unveil policy, weigh in on issues and share fan-generated content to his nearly 12 million followers on Truth Social, a platform owned by his Trump Media & Technology Group.

Thursday's post raised questions about the protocols used around Trump's social media communications, which can move markets and provoke adversaries.

Mark Burns, a Black pastor aligned with Trump, said on X that the president told him on Friday that a staff member was responsible for the post. Burns called for the staff member to be fired.

Trump has criticized his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, for not tightly controlling the presidential memoranda distributed under his name and signed by "auto-pen."

In December, Trump described Somalis as "garbage" who should be thrown out of the country. He has referred to that and other developing nations as "shithole countries." He was also criticized last year for depicting House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is Black, with a superimposed handlebar mustache and a sombrero.

Civil rights advocates have said Trump's rhetoric has become increasingly bold, normalized and politically permissible.

"Donald Trump's video is blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable," said Derrick Johnson, national president of the NAACP, a civil rights group, in an emailed statement. "Voters are watching and will remember this at the ballot box." — Reuters