President Donald Trump shared a clip of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama appearing as apes in a late-night Truth Social post on Feb. 5 before taking it down the following day amid bipartisan pushback.
The roughly minute-long video centered on footage discussing unsubstantiated voter fraud allegations in the 2020 presidential election before briefly flipping to the clip of the Obamas.
The image of the Obamas, which appeared to have been generated by artificial intelligence, showed the bodies of two apes whose faces have been replaced by that of the former president and first lady. They appeared to be in a jungle with apes flying in the background.
The White House initially dismissed criticism that the video was racist, and said it is from a meme depicting Trump and the Obamas as characters from the Lion King. Trump does not appear in the video, which he posted just before midnight on Feb. 5 with no accompanying text.
But by noon ET on Feb. 6 ‒ after the post had been up about 12 hours ‒ it no longer appeared on Truth Social. A White House official told USA TODAY on Feb. 6 a White House staffer had erroneously made the post and that it was taken down. Trump personally ordered the post be removed, a second White House official said.
The video was among more than 60 posts and reposts from Trump's Truth Social account made during a rapid flurry of activity that started at 10:36 p.m. ET on Feb. 5 and ended 12:25 a.m. ET. Yet a close Trump ally, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the president had no knowledge of the post and that a staffer let Trump down.
A small group of trusted White House officials have access to the president's social media accounts. A 2024 documentary, "Art of the Surge: The Donald Trump Comeback," showed Trump dictating to Natalie Harp, executive assistant to the president, what to write in one of his Truth Social posts. Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff, is also believed to have access.
In the original meme that the White House referred to, Trump's head is superimposed on the body of a lion. Faces of other politicians, including former President Joe Biden, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and U.S. Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also appear superimposed on animals in the original video.
"This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement prior to the post being removed.
Many on social media quickly denounced the portrayal as racist, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle criticized the post and called on the president to apologize.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he was "praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it."
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, said the post was "totally unacceptable" and called on the president to apologize.
"Even if this was a Lion King meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this. The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize," wrote U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska, on X.
Newsom's press office called on Republicans to speak out about the video in a post on X.
"Disgusting behavior by the President," the post said. "Every single Republican must denounce this. Now."
In response to Trump's post, the X account Republicans Against Trump said, "there's no bottom."
Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser under President Obama, also decried the image.
"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," Rhodes wrote on X.
Harry Sisson, a Democratic political influencer, called the video "incredibly racist and disgusting."
"Beneath the office of the presidency, like everything he does. Every American must condemn this," Sisson wrote on X.
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, wrote, "Last night, the president shared a racist AI-generated video attacking the Obamas. This kind of Jim Crow–style dehumanization is pathetic and a disgrace to the office."
Torrey Smith, a former NFL wide receiver, said it is "embarrassing and disappointing" on X.
"Choosing to side with him is agreeing with him. My personal line is drawn with people and I move accordingly," Smith said
USA TODAY