President Trump late Thursday night shared a video that contained a brief clip portraying former President Barack Obama and the former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.
The clip, set to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” was spliced near the end of a 62-second video that promoted conspiracy theories about anomalies in the 2020 presidential election.
It was unclear if Mr. Trump was aware that the clip had been included in the video before he shared it. It was unclear how the clip was made, although it appeared to have been generated by A.I. The clip appeared to have been taken from a video that was shared in October by a user on X whose watermark is shown, with the caption “President Trump: King of the Jungle,” and an emoji of a lion.
In that video, several high-profile Democrats — including former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and former vice president Kamala Harris — were shown as zebras, giraffes and other animals, while Mr. Trump was depicted as a lion. The Obamas, in the clip, were shown as apes. The video ended with the animals bowing down to Mr. Trump.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The depiction of Mr. and Mrs. Obama as apes perpetuates a racist trope promoted by slave traders and segregationists, who used the characterization to dehumanize Black people and justify lynchings and other atrocities. President Trump has a history of making degrading remarks about women, immigrants and people of color.
The press office of Gov. Gavin Newsom of California condemned Mr. Trump’s post, saying it represented “disgusting behavior by the President.” Mr. Newsom added: “Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”
Since returning to office, Mr. Trump and his administration have frequently mocked or leveled false claims at Mr. Obama.
In response to the clip, Ben Rhodes, a former official during the Obama administration, called Mr. Trump “a stain on our history.”
Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends.
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