February 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nLate on Thursday (local time), Trump had shared a minute-long video amplifying the Republican US president’s false claims that his 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud. Spliced into the video was an apparently AI-generated clip of dancing primates superimposed with the\u00a0Obamas’ heads.<\/p>\n
The post on Trump’s Truth Social network drew swift criticism from prominent political figures, including Republican Senator Tim Scott, a Trump ally who is Black.<\/p>\n
“Praying it was fake because it\u2019s the most racist thing I\u2019ve seen out of this White House,” Scott said on X. “The President should remove it.”<\/p>\n
Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York was among several other prominent political figures who said Trump should apologise and delete the post.<\/p>\n
Prior to the post being deleted, Leavitt said it was “from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King.” Trump’s clip included a song from that musical.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the\u00a0Obamas declined to comment.<\/p>\n
White supremacists have for centuries depicted people of African ancestry as monkeys as part of campaigns to dehumanise and dominate Black populations.<\/p>\n
“Let it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will embrace the\u00a0Obamas as beloved figures while studying him as a stain on our history,” said Ben Rhodes, a former\u00a0Obama\u00a0aide, on X.<\/p>\n
Trump has a history of sharing racist rhetoric and long promoted the false conspiracy theory that Barack\u00a0Obama\u00a0was not born in the United States. In December, Trump described\u00a0Somalis as “garbage”\u00a0who should be thrown out of the country. He has referred to that and other developing nations as “shithole countries.” He was also\u00a0criticised last year\u00a0for depicting House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is Black, with a superimposed handlebar moustache and a sombrero.<\/p>\n
Civil rights advocates have said Trump\u2019s rhetoric has become increasingly bold, normalised and politically permissible.<\/p>\n
“Donald Trump\u2019s video is blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable,” said Derrick Johnson, national president of the NAACP, a civil rights group, in an emailed statement. “Voters are watching and will remember this at the ballot box.”<\/p>\n