MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump deletes racist Obama video after backlash, including from Republicans

A White House official said a staffer “erroneously” made the post and that it was taken down

U.S. President Donald Trump removed a Truth Social video that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama with their faces superimposed on primate bodies, after a wave of criticism that included condemnation from some Republicans.

The roughly one-minute clip also amplified false claims about fraud in the 2020 U.S. election. Near the end, it included a brief segment — apparently AI-generated — featuring the altered images of the Obamas. The White House initially defended the post but deleted it about 12 hours after it appeared.

A White House official said a staffer “erroneously” made the post and that it was taken down. A Trump adviser said the president had not seen the video before it was posted late Thursday and ordered its removal once he learned of it. Earlier, spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt dismissed the backlash as “fake outrage,” describing the content as an internet meme.

Democrats and civil rights advocates sharply condemned the imagery. NAACP President Derrick Johnson called the video “blatantly racist” and “disgusting.” Ben Rhodes, a former Obama aide, said the incident would “haunt” Trump and his supporters in a social media post.

Republican criticism was also notable. Senator Tim Scott, a close Trump ally who is Black, urged that the post be removed and described it as “the most racist thing” he had seen from the White House. Other Republicans called for an apology, and some lawmakers privately contacted the White House about the video.

The episode has renewed scrutiny of internal controls over presidential social media, where posts can shape political narratives and reverberate beyond U.S. borders. Trump has previously faced criticism for racially charged rhetoric and for sharing manipulated content targeting political opponents.

Trump won't apologize

Trump publicly defended the post and said he would not apologize. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Florida, the president stated that he “did nothing wrong” and ruled out dismissing the person responsible for posting the video. He said he did not watch the clip in full and merely “passed it along” for publication on his official account. The White House removed the video hours later, an unusual step for a president known for doubling down on controversial social media posts.

The video recycled false claims that Dominion Voting Systems manipulated the 2020 election results — allegations that courts have rejected after the company won multiple defamation lawsuits against outlets and figures promoting the narrative. The racist depiction of the Obamas appears in the final second of the clip, set to The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and was reportedly created by an Instagram user known for pro-Trump AI-generated memes, according to EFE. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially dismissed the backlash as “manufactured outrage,” but the post drew criticism even from within the Republican Party, including Senator Tim Scott, a close Trump ally.