The clip appeared at the end of a 62-second video shared overnight on Trump’s account, which largely focused on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Set to The Lion Sleeps Tonight, the final segment included imagery widely criticised as racist, drawing on longstanding racist caricatures comparing Black people to monkeys. The video was later removed following widespread backlash.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said he “didn’t make a mistake” and rejected calls to apologise. He stated that the video had been posted by a staff member and that he did not know it included the offensive depiction of the Obamas. “I look at thousands of things,” Trump said, adding that he liked the video’s message on voter fraud but would not have approved it had he known its full content.
The White House initially defended the post as an “internet meme video” and accused critics of “fake outrage”. However, after criticism intensified — including from senior Republicans — the post was taken down. A White House official later said a staffer had “erroneously” shared the video. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described it as a meme portraying Trump as the “King of the Jungle” and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.
The backlash extended into Trump’s own party. Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina called the clip “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House”, while New York Representative Mike Lawler described it as “wrong and incredibly offensive”, calling for its removal and an apology. Utah Senator John Curtis also condemned the video as “blatantly racist and inexcusable”.
The clip appears to have originated from a post on X shared in October by a conservative meme creator and also depicted other prominent Democrats — including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Hillary Clinton and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — as animals. Former president Joe Biden was likewise portrayed as an ape.
Democratic leaders and civil rights figures strongly condemned the post. NAACP president Derrick Johnson described it as “disgusting and utterly despicable”, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Trump a “vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder”. Several Democratic governors, including Gavin Newsom and JB Pritzker, also denounced the president’s actions.
The Obamas have not commented publicly. The incident adds to Trump’s long history of attacks on Barack Obama, including his past promotion of the false “birther” conspiracy theory questioning Obama’s citizenship.
