Shortly before midnight on Thursday, President Donald Trump shared a videoon his Truth Social account that included a short clip depicting former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.
The clip shared on the president’s account, which has more than 11 million online followers, was included at the end of a minute-long video promoting conspiracy theories about the tabulation of the 2020 presidential election results. The segment at the end showed the Obamas’ faces superimposed onto the bodies of apes as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” played in the background.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), the sole Black Republican member of the Senate, wrote on X that he was “praying” the video “was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”
“The President should remove it,” Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, added.
When asked why the president felt it was important to share the video online, given that the depiction of African Americans as apes is widely understood to be a racist trope, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in a statement, “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,” she added.
The clip depicting the Obamas as apes appeared to be part of a longer animation, dating back at least to October, depicting Trump as a lion and several high-profile Democrats as jungle animals. The video concludes with the animals bowing to Trump as a lion.
The White House did not say whether the video, which was one of several posted to Trump’s account overnight, was shared by the president personally or by someone who helps run his account. A representative for the Obamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Scott is not the only Republican in Congress to swiftly denounce the video.
Rep. Michael Lawler (R-New York) wrote in a poston X Friday morning that Trump’s post “is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), the first Black person to lead a party in the House, respondedto the video of the Obamas by referring to Trump as “a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder.” He called on “every single Republican” to “denounce Donald Trump’s disgusting bigotry.”
The clip, shared in the middle of Black History Month, was one of several posted to Trump’s account overnight. Other posts included an eight-minute-long video reposting another user of the social media platform who said it was aimedto “educate” viewers “on Black Conservative history all February.” A different commentary video calledthe Democratic Party “anti-Black.”
Trump made gains with minority groups during the 2024 presidential election. Trump won about 15 percent of Black voters, roughly doubling his share from four years earlier and garnering the largest share of the Black vote of any Republican presidential candidate in at least a quarter-century. Since taking office, however, his approval rating among Black Americans has dropped.
Trump has long been accused of deploying racially insensitive language and perpetuating racist stereotypes.
On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump saidhis opponent, Kamala Harris “was Indian all the way” before “all of a sudden she made a turn” and “became a Black person.” He has also repeatedly questioned the intelligence of several high-profile Black women, including Harris, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California)and several journalists. He referred to one of his former staffers, Omarosa Manigault Newman, as a dog.
More recently, Trump has sharedan AI-generated meme of Jeffries with a superimposed sombrero and mustache, charging Democratic leaders with wanting to provide undocumented immigrants with free health care. During last year’s government shutdown, the video was played on a loop on a video monitor inside the White House briefing room.
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