Trump Condemns Video Post Showing Obamas As Apes, But Refuses To Apologise

Last Updated:February 08, 2026, 08:29 IST

The video, posted on Trump’s Truth Social platform, was taken down by the White House roughly 12 hours after it appeared online.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday condemned a video shared on his social media account that portrayed former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.

It came after the post triggered sharp backlash across the political spectrum for its racist undertones. However, Trump stopped short of issuing an apology, insisting he had not made a mistake.

The video, posted on Trump’s Truth Social platform, was taken down by the White House roughly 12 hours after it appeared online. While the administration initially defended the post, it later acknowledged that it should not have been shared.

Asked by reporters whether he condemned the video, Trump responded, “Of course I do," but added that he had not seen the entire clip before it was posted.

According to Trump, he viewed only the opening portion, which focused on false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

“I didn’t see the whole thing," he said. “The first part was about voter fraud in the machines. Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t."

A White House official said the video was posted in error by a staff member and was removed once the president became aware of its full content. The official did not identify the staffer involved.

A Trump adviser separately told Reuters that the president had not reviewed the video before it went live and ordered its deletion after learning about the controversial imagery.

Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had defended the post, dismissing the criticism as “fake outrage."

She later described the video as an internet meme portraying Trump as the “King of the Jungle" and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.

The one-minute clip included music from the Disney film and, toward the end, briefly showed what appeared to be an AI-generated image of dancing primates with the Obamas’ faces superimposed.

The Obamas declined to comment on the incident.

The episode revived scrutiny of Trump’s long record of racially charged rhetoric, including his promotion of the false “birther" conspiracy questioning Obama’s US citizenship.

Speaking at a prayer breakfast earlier this week, Trump described Obama as “very bad" and a “terrible divider" of the country.

The video prompted rare public criticism from Republicans as well. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, a close Trump ally, called the post deeply offensive.

“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House," Scott wrote on X, urging its removal.

Other Republican lawmakers publicly and privately pressed the White House to delete the video and apologise. Trump, however, rejected those calls.

News world Trump Condemns Video Post Showing Obamas As Apes, But Refuses To Apologise

Read More