After Outrage, Trump Deletes ‘Racist’ Meme Depicting the Obamas as Apes

The White House removed a video Friday from President Trump’s Truth Social account after initially defending the clip that swiftly earned condemnation for portraying President Obama and Michelle Obama as apes. The Obamas surprisingly appear for two seconds at the tail end of a minute-long video that attempts to bolster the president’s insistence that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Mr. Trump posted the video as part of a late-night burst of social media activity.The depiction of the Obamas is the first image in a separate video than the one Mr. Trump posted. In that video, edited to the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” Mr. Trump portrays a lion while several Democratic lawmakers and supporters are depicted as other types of jungle animals. The caption reads: “President Trump: King of the Jungle.”The image of the Obamas as primates perpetuates a centuries-old racist trope aimed at dehumanizing blacks. Its appearance elicited shock on Capitol Hill and on social media. “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” the Senate’s only Black Republican, Tim Scott, wrote in a post on his personal X account.“Racist. Vile. Abhorrent,” is how Senator Chuck Schumer described the video in an X post. “The President must immediately delete the post and apologize to Barack and Michelle Obama, two great Americans who make Donald Trump look like a small, envious man.”“The President’s post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered,” a Republican lawmaker from New York, Mike Lawler, said on his X account.Governor Gavin Newson, who is believed to be readying for a White House run in 2028, released a statement via his press office X saying, “Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”While the post drew widespread rebukes, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said any complaints about the post were “fake outrage.”“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” Ms. Levitt said in a statement. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”After the video was deleted, the White House blamed an unnamed administration staffer for “erroneously making the post.”

After Outrage, Trump Deletes ‘Racist’ Meme Depicting the Obamas as Apes

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