Donald Trump’s social media account reposted a video depicting former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, sparking immediate backlash and drawing condemnation from both sides of the political aisle before it was deleted on Friday.
The inflammatory post, which appeared on Trump’s Truth Social account late Thursday night, contained a segment where the Obamas’ faces were superimposed onto apes dancing in a jungle setting to the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” This racist imagery came at the end of a longer video focused on 2020 election conspiracy theories.
Trump Claims Ignorance
When questioned about the post, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he hadn’t seen the offensive portion of the video. “I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of picture people don’t like. I wouldn’t like it either, but I didn’t see it,” the former president stated.
The White House has since attributed the post to a staff error. An official indicated that a staffer mistakenly shared the racist content on Trump’s Truth Social account, according to footage of the White House briefing.
But the damage was already done. The video remained online for hours before being removed, circulating widely and drawing sharp criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.
Bipartisan Condemnation
Perhaps most notable was the swift rebuke from Republican Senator Tim Scott, who didn’t mince words in his assessment of the post. “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it,” Scott demanded.
How could such content make it onto a former president’s official social media? That question has many political observers concerned about the vetting process within Trump’s communications team.
The incident comes at a particularly sensitive moment in American politics, where racial tensions remain high and social media continues to serve as both a megaphone and minefield for public figures.
Depicting Black Americans as primates has a long, painful history in American racist imagery, dating back to slavery and Jim Crow. Such comparisons were historically used to dehumanize Black people and justify their mistreatment.
While the post has been removed, its brief presence on a former president’s account — regardless of who posted it — raises serious questions about oversight and responsibility in the digital age. In the end, the incident serves as a stark reminder that in politics, as in life, what gets shared matters — even if you claim you never saw it.
