President Donald Trump shared a video on his Truth Social account late Thursday that included a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as cartoon apes, drawing swift condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans who called it offensive and demanded its removal.
The roughly minute-long video, which focused on baseless claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential race, ended with the Obamas’ faces superimposed on ape characters as the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” played. Trump reposted the clip from an X user who originally shared it in October, according to a White House official. The post was deleted shortly before noon Friday.
The imagery evoked longstanding racist tropes comparing Black people to monkeys or apes, a stereotype historically used to dehumanize African Americans. The incident occurred during Black History Month, which celebrates the contributions of Black Americans. Barack Obama was the nation’s first Black president.
BREAKING: Our RACIST President just posted a video which depicts Barack and Michelle Obama as Apes.
But I’m sure MAGA will tell us it’s the black people who are the real racist ones and that we need to do seeing about that.
When is enough enough? When can you all admit that… pic.twitter.com/SdVVjcrO2f
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) February 6, 2026
White House officials initially defended the post as an “internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from ‘The Lion King.'” But later, a spokesperson attributed it to a staff error, saying the video was removed once the issue was identified.
The backlash was immediate and crossed party lines. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate and a Trump ally, described it on X as “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House” and urged the president to take it down. Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts said the clip carried “racist context” and called for its deletion along with an apology. New York Rep. Mike Lawler, another Republican, labeled it “wrong and incredibly offensive,” adding that it should be removed immediately with an apology.
Democrats were more pointed in their criticism. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the video “Racist. Vile. Abhorrent” on social media and demanded its removal and an apology. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries denounced Trump as a “vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder” and urged every Republican to “immediately denounce Donald Trump’s disgusting bigotry.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, posted on X that “Donald Trump is a racist.” The NAACP’s president, Derrick Johnson, issued a statement calling the video “blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable.” The group Republicans Against Trump, which frequently criticizes the president on social media, wrote: “There’s no bottom.”
Social media users amplified the outrage. On X, formerly Twitter, posts condemning the video garnered thousands of views and shares, with many highlighting its timing during Black History Month. One user, echoing bipartisan sentiment, wrote: “Let it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will see this.”
Trump, who has a history of sharing memes and AI-generated content on social media, did not comment directly on the video or the backlash. The Obamas also did not immediately respond.
The episode comes amid ongoing debates over race and rhetoric in American politics, with Trump often accused by critics of amplifying divisive tropes. While most Republicans remained silent, the criticisms from figures like Scott, Ricketts and Lawler marked a rare public break from party unity.
