Trump Defends Sharing Racist Obama Video Despite GOP and NAACP Backlash

President Donald Trump said he did not see a racist clip depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes in a video posted from his Truth Social account, even as he refused to apologize for sharing it and insisted he “didn’t make a mistake.” The 62‑second video, posted late Thursday and deleted Friday after a wave of bipartisan condemnation, also amplified debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. nytimes +1

What the Video Showed and How the White House Responded

The video, posted around 11:44 p.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 6, opened with graphics and narration alleging voter fraud in battleground states, echoing conspiracy theories that courts and election officials have repeatedly rejected. Near the 60‑second mark, it cut to an AI‑manipulated clip placing the faces of Barack and Michelle Obama on ape bodies in a jungle setting, set to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” nytimes +2 The racist imagery drew on a longstanding trope equating Black people with primates, which historians and civil‑rights groups said has been used for centuries to dehumanize Black Americans. pbs

Initially, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the post as “an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” dismissing criticism as “fake outrage.” axios By midday Friday, however, the video was removed, and the White House blamed an unnamed staffer who had “erroneously made the post.” abcnews +1 Reporting traced the offending frames to a conservative meme creator known as Xerias, whose earlier videos targeting Democrats had already drawn criticism. bbc

Bipartisan Backlash and Trump’s Defiant Defense

Reaction on Capitol Hill was unusually swift and cross‑partisan. Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina called the clip “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House” and said he had initially “prayed it was fake” before urging Trump to delete it. cnn +1 Other Republicans, including Sens. Pete Ricketts and Roger Wicker and several GOP House members, also condemned the video as racist and urged an apology. aljazeera +1 The NAACP labeled the post “blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable,” while House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the Obamas were “brilliant, compassionate and patriotic Americans” and described Trump as “a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder.” pbs +1

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One Friday evening, Trump said he had only viewed the beginning of the video, focusing on its false election‑fraud claims, and had not seen “the part that people don’t like” before authorizing it to be posted. He said he “of course” condemned the racist imagery but repeatedly declined to apologize, saying, “No, I didn’t make a mistake.” nytimes +2 According to aides, the post was taken down after Trump spoke with Scott, though Trump has continued to stand by his decision to share election‑denial content. abcnews +1

The Bigger Picture

The episode underscored both the enduring power of racist visual tropes in U.S. politics and the growing role of AI‑generated meme content in presidential messaging. It also highlighted a rare public rift between Trump and members of his own party over race, even as Trump maintained his refusal to retract discredited claims about the 2020 election. With the White House now blaming a staffer and offering no apology, questions remain about how presidential social media posts are vetted — and whether similar AI‑driven provocations will shape the coming campaign. nytimes +2