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A social media post by US President Donald Trump depicted former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as primates in a jungle. It was deleted on Friday after a backlash from both Republicans and Democrats.
US President Donald Trump refused to apologise on Friday for a racist video he posted on his social media platform Truth Social, which depicted the former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as primates.
Following widespread backlash for its treatment of the nation’s first Black president and first lady, the post was blamed on a staffer and deleted.
Near the end of the one-minute-long video promoting conspiracies about Republican Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, the Obamas were shown with their faces on the bodies of apes for about one second.
The video repeated false allegations that ballot-counting company Dominion Voting Systems helped steal the election from Trump.
The frames of the Obamas at the end of the clip originated from a separate video, previously circulated by an influential conservative meme maker. It shows a lion Trump as “King of the Jungle” and depicts Democratic leaders as other animals.
A rare admission of a misstep by the White House, the deletion came hours after press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed “fake outrage” over the post. After calls for its removal — including by Republicans — the White House said a staffer had posted the video erroneously.
“I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump said on Air Force One late Friday when asked if he would apologise for the post.
“I just looked at the first part… and I didn’t see the whole thing,” Trump said, adding that he “gave it” to staffers to post and they also didn’t watch the full video.
Asked if he condemns the racist imagery in the video, Trump replied: “Of course I do.”
Former vice president Kamala Harris called out the White House’s backpedaling in a post on X on Friday.
“No one believes this cover up from the White House, especially since they originally defended this post,” she wrote.
“We are all clear-eyed about who Donald Trump is and what he believes.”
There is a long history in the US of powerful white figures associating Black people with animals, including apes, in demonstrably false, racist ways. The practice dates to 18th century cultural racism and pseudo-scientific theories used to justify the enslavement of Black people, and later to dehumanise freed Black people as uncivilised threats to white people.
When Obama was in the White House, Trump pushed false claims that the 44th president, who was born in Hawaii, was born in Kenya and constitutionally ineligible to serve. Trump had demanded that Obama prove he was a “natural-born citizen” as required to become president.
The White House explanation also raises questions about control of Trump’s social media account, which he’s used to levy import taxes, threaten military action, make other announcements and intimidate political rivals. The president often signs his name or initials after policy posts.
The White House did not immediately respond to an inquiry about how posts are vetted and when the public can know when Trump himself is posting.
