Former President Barack Obama this weekend indirectly addressed a racist video posted earlier this month by President Trump, which depicted Mr. Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, as apes.
In a podcast interview published on Saturday, Mr. Obama was asked about the “devolution of the discourse” in American politics, with the host mentioning the video shared by Mr. Trump as one of several examples of inflammatory comments or statements by officials from the current administration.
“There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television, and what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office,” Mr. Obama told Brian Tyler Cohen, a YouTuber and podcast host. “That’s been lost,” he added.
Appearing on Mr. Cohen’s “No Lie” podcast, Mr. Obama did not directly address the video, which was deleted from Mr. Trump’s Truth Social account after it prompted rare, bipartisan outrage. But Mr. Obama stressed that he believed that most Americans found such content abhorrent.
“I think it’s important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,” Mr. Obama said. “It is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction. But as I’m traveling around the country, as you’re traveling around the country, you meet people, they still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness.”
Mr. Trump has refused to apologize for posting the video, saying he “didn’t make a mistake.” He said that he had not seen the entire clip and that someone else had posted it on his account.
In the nearly hourlong appearance with Mr. Cohen, Mr. Obama spoke at length about the Democratic Party, public protest and Mr. Trump’s blunt immigration enforcement, including the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Minneapolis.
“The rogue behavior of agents of the federal government is deeply concerning and dangerous,” Mr. Obama said. He added: “It is important for us to recognize the unprecedented nature of what ICE was doing in Minneapolis.” The Trump administration said on Thursday that it was ending its deployment of federal agents to Minnesota after it led to tense protests, thousands of arrests and at least three shootings in the Democratic-led state.
Mr. Obama applauded the grass roots organizing that was occurring in places like Minneapolis and community efforts to protect immigrants there.
“That kind of heroic, sustained behavior in subzero weather by ordinary people is what should give us hope,” he said.
Ali Watkins covers international news for The Times and is based in Belfast.
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